Loudoun Rail Gets Federal Approval

Federal Transportation Department Makes Stark Reversal

By Amy Gardner, Lena H. Sun

Originally published at 12:04 a.m., April 30, 2008
Updated at 12:30 p.m., April 30, 2008

Federal transportation officials today told Congress and Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) that they have approved the proposed 23-mile extension of Metrorail to Dulles International Airport and Loudoun County, reversing their announcement in January that the project was unfit for federal funding.

In a letter to Kaine and in a 10 a.m. conference call with the governor and Virginia congressional leaders, U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said the $5 billion project had finally met the Federal Transit Administration's standards for cost efficiency, construction and expected ridership. The project will now move into the final design phase, a major step toward receiving $900 million in federal funding.

"As a result of the collaboration between federal and state officials, the project sponsor and other project stakeholders, the financial stability and oversight of the project has improved," Peters wrote to Kaine in a letter obtained by The Washington Post. "Cost reductions have been verified and mechanisms have been established to enhance inter-organizational cooperation, technical capacity and project management."

Photo: By Laris Karklis, The Washington Post - June 19, 2007

23-Mile Metro Extension

The news was met with widespread relief from Virginia politicians and business leaders, although there was also some upset from opponents of the aerial alignment of the rail line through busy Tysons Corner, where a debate over whether to dig a tunnel nearly derailed the entire project.

"Rail to Dulles is the single most important transportation investment that we can make in Northern Virginia," said Gerald E. Connolly (D), chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. "It's going to transform the 23-mile corridor into a transit-oriented corridor that will help change commuting patterns, and that's a good thing. It links Fairfax and Loudoun integrally into the Metro system, which is also a good thing. People are going to appreciate the payoff."

Still, Peters went on, "much work remains" to make the project right. Today's approval comes with conditions that must be met if the project is to receive federal funding. Without that money, state and local officials have said that the project would die, ending the possibility of a long-sought rail connection between the nation's capital and its major international airport. Supporters say the line would ease congestion through Virginia's biggest jobs corridor and keep the economy humming with the transformation of suburban Tysons Corner into a thriving downtown.

Among the conditions, Peters said in her letter, is a sweeping demand that Virginia and the Metro system guarantee the capital investment necessary to maintain and operate Metro. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority recently identified $489 million in "urgent unfunded capital needs," Peters said.

The decision represents a sharp reversal by Peters and FTA chief James S. Simpson, who said in January that the project was unfit for federal funding. Their objections included the project's escalating cost, concerns about its management by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority and reservations about the ability of the under-funded Metro system to operate the line.

That announcement stunned state and local officials, who had thought that the project, which had been in the planning stages for years, was on track for federal approval.

Angry exchanges among local and federal officials included an accusation from the FTA that Virginia and the airports authority had ignored signs that the project had been in trouble for months. Project boosters accused the FTA of seeking to kill the Dulles rail project because of the Bush administration's preference for private investment in public infrastructure. Rumors circulated that the FTA sought to force Virginia to sell the Dulles Toll Road to private entities to finance the rail line, and the FTA continued to say that the project's cost was unacceptably high and expected ridership too low.

Before that announcement, "all indications were pointing to a thumbs-up," Kaine said in January.

Simpson said at the time: "No one associated with the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project should be surprised."

Kaine, Peters, Simpson, Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.), Rep. Frank R. Wolf (R-Va.), Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.), Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) and Rep. James P. Moran Jr. (D-Va.) all participated in this morning's conference call, said sources who insisted on anonymity because of the sensitivity of the deliberations.

In March, Kaine and Peters issued a joint statement praising each other's efforts to reach an agreement. And congressional leaders, including Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and House Transportation Committee Chairman James L. Oberstar (D-Minn.), have offered support.

Officials with knowledge of the federal decision said Peters was behind the reversal despite objections from the FTA staff, which she oversees. Several sources said they might never know what caused federal regulators to ease up after coming down so hard on the project.

The rail line would go from Falls Church to the airport and into Loudoun County. The first phase, for which Virginia is seeking the federal money, would have four stations at Tysons Corner and end at Wiehle Avenue in Reston.

Tagged: Dulles, Dulles Airport, metro extension

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