[DC Metro] Good News!

[Lonestar]

DC Metro Rail expansion in doubt

Friday, January 25, 2008 - 9:23 AM EST
Metrorail extension to Dulles in doubt
Washington Business Journal - by Joe Coombs Senior Staff Reporter

After years of preparation, it will now take an 11th-hour plea to save a much-anticipated Metrorail expansion project to Dulles International Airport.

Concerns raised in a letter by the head of the Federal Transit Administration, Jim Simpson, have thrown the $4 billion-plus endeavor into doubt. Without $900 million in FTA funds for its construction, the project is expected to die.

Simpson raised issues with the project's rising costs and its future management by Metro, which has had its own set of problems with funding and system maintenance in recent years.

Supporters of the expansion -- which would extend Metro from the Orange Line in Falls Church out to Dulles, creating 11 new stations along the way -- said that the FTA hadn't raised the issues previously and keeps placing new demands on the project.

"Over the course of this project, we have met every requirement that the FTA has put in front of us," said Gordon Hickey, spokesman for Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine. "And every time we do that, they put up new requirements. They keep moving the goalpost."

Hickey said Kaine was "disappointed" with Simpson's letter, and that Kaine and other officials will respond to the FTA on Monday. The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which would manage the project and collect revenue from the Dulles Toll Road to help pay for it, did not comment on Simpson's letter and released a statement that said a response would come Monday.

In recent months, the project's supporters appeared confident that the FTA would approve the funds, even after the federal agency asked that $250 million be trimmed from the project's budget in August. Virginia officials responded immediately and identified $306 million in potential cost cuts.

At the time, FTA officials noted that costs for the Metrorail effort were rising by $3.6 million per month, and that the project was in danger of losing federal support. It still didn't faze those involved.

Airports authority representatives moved into two floors of a Tysons Corner office building in 2007, working on final designs and prepping for construction in the spring of 2008, all in anticipation of receiving the federal aid.

At a business forum last fall, Virginia transportation secretary Pierce Homer was asked by someone in attendance if the state "had a plan B" if the FTA didn't come up with the $900 million. Homer laughed and simply replied, "No."

Business leaders in Northern Virginia have called the Metrorail project a crucial piece of the region's future economic success. Some expressed frustration with Simpson's letter.

"It is extremely disappointing that, while acknowledging the critical need for mass transit in this corridor, the federal commitment falls so far short," said Bill Lecos, president and CEO of the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce. "Unlike most projects in this country where the federal government is asked to assume between 50 percent and 80 percent of the costs, this was an opportunity for them to be a 20 percent partner in a project with profound benefits for their workforce and community."

Damnit!

[Anguirus]

...that's good news how?

[Uraniun235]

Sarcasm would be my guess.

[MKSheppard]

Hey lonestar, I already posted it. You're Epic Fail.