Dulles Metro Extension Still Faces Hurdles

Focus Now on First Phase Of Dulles Metro Extension

By Sandhya Somashekhar (Contact)

Sunday, May 4, 2008

The future grew brighter last week for the proposed Metrorail extension to Dulles International Airport, but many questions remain — especially about the phase of the project that would bring the much-anticipated rail line into Loudoun County.

On Wednesday, federal transportation officials announced that they would allow the project to move to the final design stage, reversing the position they took in January and reviving hopes that it will qualify for $900 million in federal funding.

But that money would apply only to the first 11 miles of the extension, a segment ending at Wiehle Avenue in Fairfax County. Officials have yet to finalize the design and funding of the western half of the line, which would include the airport and two stops in Ashburn.

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

23-Mile Metro Extension

“We’re just focused on Phase One, because that’s what we need to get the federal funding,” said Tara Hamilton, a spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which is overseeing the project. “But the plan has always been the entire system.”

Virginia leaders have touted the $5 billion project as a solution to the region’s traffic troubles and a tool for economic development. Called the Silver Line, the 23-mile offshoot of the Orange Line is expected to carry some 60,000 passengers a day along Virginia’s most concentrated jobs corridor.

Local leaders were stunned in January when U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters and Federal Transit Administration chief James S. Simpson announced that the project, which had been planned for four decades, would not qualify for federal funding. The federal officials said the $900 million federal investment would be too risky, citing concern about the Metro system’s ability to operate the additional rail line, among other issues.

But after an intense lobbying effort by Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) and legislative leaders, federal officials allowed the project to move forward in the federal approval process — although they said final approval is contingent on several conditions, including a major influx of cash into the Metro system.

The news was met with relief from Loudoun business and government officials. Though the federal funding would help pay for only the first five of the 11 planned rail stations, it was critical to getting the project going, said Tony Howard, president and chief executive of the Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce.

“As they say in the cliche hall of fame, it ain’t over till it’s over,” Howard said. “But that said, [the project] doesn’t even scratch the surface of its potential if it ends at Wiehle Avenue.”

Howard noted that Loudoun is the only Washington area jurisdiction not served by a major interstate highway or commuter rail line. Nearly half the county’s residents commute to jobs outside Loudoun, according to the county’s Department of Economic Development. They generally turn to the Dulles Greenway, a private toll road that charges as much as $3.50 per trip, or endure the stop-and-go traffic of roads such as Route 7 or Route 50.

Rail also would bring an urban flair to a county dominated by suburban and rural communities, Howard said. The full 23-mile extension would terminate at two high-density, mixed-use developments in Ashburn, Loudoun Station and Moorefield Station, which together would include up to 7,500 residences, most of them condominiums and rental apartments. Such developments would be appealing to younger workers who often are not attracted by suburban-style homes, he said.

Though funding has not been finalized for the second phase of the line, county officials note that it is not contingent on federal funding, as the first phase was. Phase Two is expected to be paid for in part by Loudoun and Fairfax counties and by tolls collected on the Dulles Toll Road.

Loudoun County already has pledged $240 million to the project, which it will hand over once the second phase begins, said County Administrator Kirby M. Bowers. Current plans call for the county to come up with its share by issuing bonds backed by the county’s business and professional license tax, although the Board of Supervisors may consider other funding sources in the coming months.

Bowers said he is confident that the second phase will come through if all goes well with the first phase.

“It is critical to the Airports Authority that Phase Two happen,” Bowers said. “For them to terminate at Wiehle Avenue doesn’t do the airport a heck of a lot of good.”

If completed as proposed, the Silver Line will break off from the Orange Line after the East Falls Church station, extending through Tysons Corner and continuing on to stops in Reston and Herndon before reaching the airport.

The first stop in Ashburn would be at the Dulles Greenway and Route 606, with a bus stop and 2,750 parking spaces. The line would terminate at Route 772 and the Greenway, with a bus stop and parking for 3,300 cars.

Federal authorities have said the first phase must be completed by 2012 to qualify for federal funding. Rail service on the full line could begin as early as 2015.

Tagged: metro extension

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