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New bump in the road for Metro but construction continues
Virginia's failed transportation session could have consequences for the Dulles rail project.
One of the goals of the special session was to replace the Northern Virginia transportation dollars that a Virginia Supreme Court decision invalidated earlier this year. Some of these dollars were in the form of dedicated funding for Metro, and the transportation special session did not provide a replacement. With federal matching funds, that dedicated funding source could mean as much as $1.5 billion in funding for the Metro system.
“The FTA's letter tied that money to funding Dulles rail,” said Chris Zimmerman, chairman of the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority, referring to the letter from U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters that announced final design approval for the rail project.
In that letter, Peters emphasized Department of Transportation concerns about Metro's infrastructure, and Virginia's share in funding it. Without that money, the $900 million in federal money for Dulles rail could be in doubt.
According to representatives of the rail project and the state, state officials will work on a dedicated source for Metro funding in a “transportation summit” this fall, while using one-time funds to qualify for federal matching funds. Where the state would find those one-time funds has yet to be been specified.
Meanwhile, construction for Phase I of the project continues in Tysons Corner.
The project got approval to enter its final design phase in May, but construction of the actual rail line cannot proceed until the Federal Transit Administration approves a $900 million full funding grant agreement. In the meantime, project officials are concentrating on preliminary work, such as property acquisition, hiring workers, purchasing rail cars and relocating utility lines in Tysons Corner.
“We're taking all the utilities that are on poles now and putting them underground," project architect Andy Pittman explained.
Sometime next week, that relocation will become more visible when workers for the project cut into the large hill at the base of the prominent SAIC building.
“Everything is done for rapidity of construction, to keep time and disruption to a minimum," Pittman said.
“We'll be ready to break ground the day after the full funding grant agreement is announced,” project spokeswoman Marcia McAllister said.
The Wiehle Avenue station and all stations between Reston and Washington Dulles International Airport will look the same, with a design similar to the Vienna Metro station. Passengers will enter the station and take an escalator down to the platform.
The four stations in Tysons Corner vary, however, with passengers at the Tysons East station boarding their trains 50 feet above the ground, while riders exiting at Tysons Central-123 will step off a pedestrian walkway into a specially designed section of the Tysons Corner Center.
Rail project planners will publicize new drawings of the stations in a series of outreach meetings later this summer. The project also will formally apply for the full funding grant agreement in August, and is currently gathering information the FTA has requested for that application.
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