"Metro Heads to Dulles;" Party at Bechtel!

By: Lowell
Published On: 3/30/2007 1:06:58 PM

Oh, Joy.

Virginia officials announced this morning that they have reached agreement with a private consortium to build the first phase of the Metro rail extension to Dulles International Airport, although the total cost of the project still remains unclear. The agreement is a blow to advocates of a rail tunnel through Tysons Corner.

Well, this may be a "100-year mistake," but at least the good folks at Bechtel are happy today! :) Oh, and Frank Wolf.  Yipee!

Comments



Very Disappointing... (Eric - 3/30/2007 2:42:00 PM)
Sounds like we've got another "bad progress is better than no progress" situations.  Brilliant. 

So we just have to move forward due to the 900 Million freebie from the Fed - but the end result is that we'll still have to spend roughly 1.5 Billion of our own money to do it wrong. 

Great thinking.



So Wait... (allinbaby76 - 3/30/2007 3:45:41 PM)
even if we took the entire tysons tunnel debate off the table. They (Bechtel and the state) just got away with telling us that $2.5 billion (tunnel estimate) would jeopardize FTA funding. On top of that they told us that they are increasing the aerial price from $2.25 billion to $2.4 to $2.7 billion. And who here thinks Bechtel won't be closer to $2.7 billion? Even I'd have to advise Bechtel not to leave $300 million on the table.


Although the total cost of the project still remains unclear (novamiddleman - 3/30/2007 4:37:35 PM)
That statement is scary


UNACCEPTABLE (Lee Diamond - 3/30/2007 8:29:11 PM)
This is unacceptable.  What was done to try to rework this with the Feds?  Why was this done in secret?  Why is the public locked out?

Where was Janet Howell and all the other fans of rail to Dulles when we needed them?  She's been advocating this enormous (an understatement) capital project for years.  Why wasn't she advocating that it go underground?

Neither Party gets off the hook for this.

I have to re-evaluate my relationship with the Virginia Democratic Party.

THIS IS TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE.



TysonsTunnel.org statement (Lowell - 3/30/2007 10:47:11 PM)
See here:

Today's news does not in any way lessen our drive for timely consideration and ultimately approval and construction of a tunnel under Tysons Corner. The great majority of people in Northern Virginia supports a tunnel because it will be less expensive and quicker to build, have less negative impacts on traffic and the environment, and is the most common-sense approach to bringing Metrorail through Tysons to Dulles.

Earlier this week, TysonsTunnel.org filed a petition with the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) requesting that the agency open this critical public-works project to competitive bidding and undertake a comprehensive evaluation of the tunnel option. The FTA has an obligation to the taxpayers of this region, who are funding the entire project.

There's lots more here.  Basically, the message continues to be, "it's not over until it's under!"  I hope they're right.