The federal government apparent decision not to fund the rail to Dulles project (at $5 billion, Virginia's largest infrastructure project, by the way) has sparked a wide variety of reactions by Virginia politicians. For instance, let's take today's Washington Post article on this issue.
*Tim Kaine says that if the federal money isn't there for rail to Dulles, "my worry is that the tolls [on the Dulles toll road] would be exorbitant."
*Kaine stresses the crucial importance of this project to northern Virginia, arguing that "[t]here is really not an effective future for the growth of Dulles or the growth of the region without rail."
*Meanwhile, Rep. Tom Davis "said yesterday that Kaine must begin looking for a Plan B."
*Leesburg Town Council member Ken Reid adds, "We're on a slippery slope when we divert revenue from roads to rail transit."
*Our old buddy Del. Dave Albo weighs in, as only he can:
"The proponents of this thing are basically violating the rule that says that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results," Albo said. "We'd better start thinking of something different, and we'd better start thinking of something fast."
*In Fairfax County, the sparks (not to mention slippery slopes and red herrings - lol) are really flying:
[Fairfax County board chairman Gerry] Connolly assailed [Supervisor Jack] Herrity's motion ["calling for a new study of 'bus rapid transit'"], which was supported by Supervisor Michael R. Frey (R-Sully). The chairman dismissed as "a red herring" the contention that bus rapid transit was never considered and said it was "a scare tactic" to suggest that taxpayers were on the hook for cost overruns.[..]
"I've read the contract, and I'm concerned by it," said [Supervisor John] Foust, a construction lawyer who in November unseated Joan M. DuBois (R), a supporter of the project as currently designed.
An exasperated Connolly said he wondered "what world" Foust was living on. The board has spent "buckets of blood" trying to place a tunnel in Tyson, he said, but failed. The fight now, he said, is to get any kind of rail link to Dulles.
*Judy Feder points the finger at Frank Wolf: "Congressman Frank Wolf's failure on this key issue is a clear signal that he's been in Congress too long and it's time for a change."
*Leslie Byrne concurs, blaming NOVA's Republican representatives for this fiasco:
With all the supposed "clout" of Rep. Wolf on the House Appropriations Committee and Rep. Davis former Chair of the House Government Oversight Committee and previous Chairman of the RNCC, they weren't able to find common ground for this project with the White House.
*Byrne also "fault[s] the Kaine administration for excessive secrecy and failing to adequately bid the project, and the Connolly-led board for reducing Dulles Rail to a means for approving new development."
In sum, what we've got here is utter disarray at the moment, with blame flying left and right and no clear light at the end of the (Metro) tunnel. The question is, what will happen next? What SHOULD happen next? What do YOU think?
Rep. Thomas M. Davis III, Virginia Republican, asked federal lawmakers to keep the project alive.Mr. Davis also told WTOP Radio that Republican and Democratic leaders appear "willing to step in," but the project "may take a different configuration."
He offered no details about an alternative plan.
Republican lawmakers in the General Assembly said the state needs to look at alternatives such as transit buses to ensure it does not lose out on federal money. They also criticized the governor's support of the airport authority, which runs Dulles and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
"This is not an agency you want to entrust with the building of this project," said Delegate Robert G. Marshall, Prince William County Republican.
"This gives us another chance to do the project right," said Foust.His vision for the future of the project echoes the stance of many Vienna and McLean residents and TysonsTunnel.org. They want the FTA to put the project and its allocated funding on hold, allowing planners to submit one that's competitively bid and more palatable to Tysons Corner residents.
Highly placed sources in the Tysons business community say that this is what the FTA is leaning toward, but time will have to tell. Other sources close to the negotiations with the FTA say that the tunnel remains "a pipe dream." Such a time out would almost certainly require at least another year of delay, during which construction costs for the project would almost certainly rise.
"It would be very problematic to go forward with just private funding," said county board chairman Gerry Connolly (D-At large).
Montgomery County officials are worried that they can no longer count on federal funding for two mass transit projects now that a plan to extend Metrorail to Dulles International Airport is facing roadblocks in northern Virginia.[...]
Officials have two projects in mind to ease the traffic along the Interstate 270 corridor: the Purple Line, a light rail or express bus line between Bethesda and New Carrollton, and another light rail or express bus line known as the Corridor Cities Transitway between the Shady Grove Metro station and just south of Clarksburg.
Both projects, which are still in the planning stages, would need federal funding.
With Virginia's Dulles Metro extension in trouble, however, local officials are nervous about securing funds.
Last week's decision by federal officials that could effectively scrap plans for a rail line to Tysons Corner and, eventually, out to Washington Dulles International Airport represents a huge blow for those who believed that such a transportation link would provide both help for the area's traffic congestion, and a boost to the economic growth of the area.It seems that myopia won out over vision.
Crux of the biscuit? What the hell does that mean???
http://www.floridabullettrain....
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - CSX has unveiled an ambitious plan to convert its Washington to Miami main line to a 3-4-track corridor with no grade crossings. On the 1,200 miles of line, CSX said passenger trains could travel unimpeded at 110 mph and freight trains could operate at speeds of 50 mph to 70 mph. Some 1,700 grade crossings would be closed, and some would be replaced with bridges. There would be four main tracks between Washington and Richmond, Va., on the former Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac, and three tracks between Richmond and Miami.
The plan would require a huge federal government investment. Last year, the U.S. Department of Transportation solicited applications from interested parties to "accelerate the development of multi-state transportation corridors of the future for one or more transportation modes." The DOT will select up to five major transportation corridors in need of investment for the purpose of reducing congestion. The DOT is now choosing up to five finalists after the application deadline ended on April 2.
If CSX is selected, it has a plan for turning its Washington-Miami line into a corridor of the future, according to Steve Dunham, chairman of the board of directors of the Virginia Association of Railway Patrons.
This would help VRE quite a bit.
Peters is the Bush administration's transportation secretary, and her main objective seems to be blocking any increase of public contributions to the public infrastructure. The main reason you are sitting in traffic, she believes, is not that the purchasing power of Highway Trust Fund revenue has been dwindling for the past decade, not that population and freight traffic have been soaring with no government response -- but that you are not being asked to pay enough to use the road you are on.[...]
Having jumped through every hoop demanded -- giving up on a tunnel through Tysons Corner, cutting $300 million in costs -- the region finds itself facing another, unexplained roadblock. But if you understand the Bush philosophy, the roadblock isn't so hard to explain: If profit alone -- and not clean air, or joining the rest of the civilized world in connecting airports to cities, or any other consideration -- matters, then Dulles rail no doubt slides down the priority list.
The best thing might be to sit tight for a year and then pick this back up when non-idiots are in charge. And maybe then we can get a fresh look at a tunnel under Tyson's, the Bechtel contract, etc. This DOT obstinancy sucks, but in the end it might be the best thing that could have happened for Northern Virginia.
Albo? As far as I know there's no alcohol involved in this project (or maybe there has been, given how it's going), so what exactly does he have to offer? Oh, "let's do something different". Care to elaborate? "we'd better do it fast". Thanks Dave.
Ok, to be fair to our Republican friends, we should be looking into alternatives. And not just other ways to fund the train. Does that mean the final answer will be different - maybe, maybe not. But I do agree with their basic concept that other options need to be re-examined. Although I dread the thought of what someone like Albo would propose.
And I completely disagree with Kaine's statement "[t]here is really not an effective future for the growth of Dulles or the growth of the region without rail." ARE YOU KIDDING ME? What's been going on in the Tyson's to Dulles corridor the past 15-20 years? There is growth, growth, growth, and, oh yeah, growth. Buildings are popping up everywhere. New housing everywhere from Tysons to Dulles. If development can't happen without a train, how'd we get this far? Is he saying that this is it - no more growth unless a train is put in? I don't buy that for a second.