Text of the Board's Metrorail Resolution

By LoudounExtra.com staff

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors Tuesday adopted a resolution in support of the extension of Metrorail to Dulles International Airport and Loudoun County. The resolution points out that the county's future economic growth is tied to the growth of the airport and the vitality of the Dulles Corridor, and that the county has been actively planning for the extension of Metrorail to Route 772 for more than 15 years.

The text of the resolution is as follows:

"WHEREAS, Loudoun County’s future economic growth is tied to the growth of Dulles Airport and the vitality of the Dulles corridor; and

WHEREAS, the Dulles Toll Road is now overwhelmed with traffic, with 91,000 vehicles per day using the Toll Road with no new right-of-way available to expand the Toll Road; and

WHEREAS, Loudoun County’s workforce, employee and non-work travel patterns are oriented to the corridor and WMATA jurisdictions; and

WHEREAS, buses cannot effectively serve Tyson’s Corner or provide comparable capacity and would require transfers to and from the Metro system; and

WHEREAS, six-car trains can add nearly 10,000 peak hour person-trip capacity which equates to more than four lanes worth of cars serving and estimated 60,000 passengers per day; and

WHEREAS, Dulles Airport will grow as new runways and terminals come on line; and

WHEREAS, the FAA’s master plan for Dulles International Airport recommended a transit line along the access road in 1964; 44 years ago and MWAA has had Metrorail expansion on its master plan for over 21 years and fully plans for Metrorail expansion to the airport and beyond; and

WHEREAS, 12 new stations, three within Loudoun, are planned for the Metrorail expansion from West Falls Church to Route 772 in Loudoun County ; and

WHEREAS, Metrorail expansion to Route 772 first appeared in Loudoun County’s General Plan 15 years ago and transit related policies were first coordinated with the Countywide Transportation Plan in 1996 and station areas identified as prime growth locations with no special tax districts; and

WHEREAS, the County predicts that these areas will produce an estimated $41.3 million dollars in local taxes; and

WHEREAS, seamless Metrorail connections further integrates Loudoun into the regional economy; therefore

BE IT RESOLVED, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors strongly supports the extension of Metrorail service to Dulles Airport, Rt. 606 and Rt. 772; and

FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED, the failure to build the Dulles Corridor rail project, connecting Washington Dulles International Airport and Loudoun County with the Nation’s Capital, will have a devastating effect on Northern Virginia’s economic growth, transportation network, and air quality; and

FURTHER BE IT RESOLVED, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors does hereby ask President Bush, Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters and James Simpson, Administrator of the Federal Transit Administration, to reconsider the removal of federal funding from the financial partnership created to construct the first phase of rail to Dulles Airport and the second phase beyond, into Loudoun County and become a full, good-faith partner in the economic vitality and expansion of the Dulles corridor and integrate Loudoun County with the greater Washington Metropolitan regional market and key assets."

Tagged: Dulles Airport, metro extension

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