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State officials released a progress report Tuesday that addressed plans to improve housing, roads and water access in five areas throughout Maryland, including two in Prince George's County, that are near military bases expected to gain thousands of government employees under the Base Realignment and Closure process.

On Dec. 15, Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, who heads the state's BRAC commission, approved a 655-acre area near Andrews Air Force Base and a 293-acre section of the city of Laurel among five BRAC zones to receive a share of $5 million under Gov. Martin O'Malley's Community Enhancement Act for structural redevelopment along with the relocation of thousands of jobs and the resulting swell in population.

Up to 2,700 government employees will be transferred to Andrews Air Force Base by September 2011, including employees of the Aerial Port Squadron from the Martin State Air Guard Station in Baltimore and Air Force and Air National Guardsmen from Arlington, Va.

Andrews Air Force Base will also receive nine F-16 fighter jets from Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico.

While there are no military bases in Laurel, the city's population is expected to jump from the 22,000 employees relocated to Fort Meade, 10 miles east of Laurel, including Defense Information Systems Agency employees from Arlington, Falls Church and Springfield, Va., and related agencies in Panama City, Fla., Fort Monmouth, N.J., and Annapolis.

According to the progress report, the Department of Housing and Community Development will be working to make resources available for revitalization by teaming up with the Neighborhood BusinessWorks, a program that provides loans and grants to small business for development purposes, and the Local Government Infrastructure Finance Program, which works with local governments to help finance infrastructure improvements including sewer and water.

For upgraded and additional transportation, the Maryland Department of Transportation will target low-cost projects with a short time frame—such as intersection improvements and additional lines of direct transit bus and train service—allowing projects to be completed when employee relocations have finished by September 2011.

E-mail Megan McKeever at mmckeever@gazette.net.