Dulles Rail Review Delayed – The Post
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, nearing a critical vote June 18 on funding the beginning of Metro’s expansion to Dulles International Airport, will not be able to see a key assessment of the $2.7 billion project’s financial risks until as late as mid-August, a federal official said yesterday.
snip
“How can we in good conscience as a board vote when we don’t know whether Uncle Sam is playing ball?” said Supervisor T. Dana Kauffman (D-Lee), a leading critic of the plans to build the extension through Tysons Corner mostly above ground instead of in a tunnel. A coalition of Northern Virginia businesses and residents, http://TysonsTunnel.org, says it has an engineering study showing that the project can be built with a more aesthetically pleasing and pedestrian-friendly tunnel for a fixed price of $2.2 billion — $500 million less than the current projected cost.
Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerald E. Connolly (D) said yesterday that he would look at the possibility of postponing the vote. But he added: “Rail to Dulles is the single most important transportation project we’ve got. . . . We don’t want to contribute to any further delays.”
Sigh.
Metro, WMATA, Mass Transit, subway, Tyson’s Corner, Virginia
