A Spanish construction firm has again submitted an offer to build a Metrorail tunnel under Tysons Corner, a proposal received unenthusiastically by state officials who plan to finalize an agreement with the contractors already selected for the rail extension.
Dragados, a division of Madrid-based ACS Infrastructure Development, sent a letter Feb. 1 to Gov. Tim Kaine offering to design and construct a 3.4-mile segment of the rail underneath Tysons for a fixed price of $823 million. The firm submitted a similar proposal last year.
The offer is part of an 11th-hour flurry of activity as officials move closer to an agreement withBechtel Infrastructure and Washington Group International to design and build the first half of the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project. They expect the full 23-mile rail extension into Loudoun County to cost $4 billion.
Bechtel and Washington Group, who together form Dulles Transit Partners, have offered to build an aerial rail for the segment through Tysons.
The widely favored tunnel proposal officially died in September when Kaine, after a warning from the Federal Transit Administration that tunnel would jeopardize $900 million in federal funds, opted instead for the above-ground track. Local business groups have since rallied to resurrect the plan.
Because Dulles Transit Partners are in negotiations to build the rail, their price proposal remains under lock and key to the public.
State officials have said they plan to move forward with the aerial rail, and that any major changes to the project at this point would risk the federal funding.
“Sure, we’ll take a look at [the Dragados proposal],” Kaine spokesman Kevin Hall said. “But for the umpteenth time, it is highly unlikely that any of these unsolicited proposals could be constructed within the budgets and timelines mandated by the Federal Transit Administration.”
Dragados lawyer Kirk Van Tine wrote Monday that “Dragados’ proposal would not jeopardize FTA funding, and would not delay project’s completion date.
“They are very serious, and are ready to move very quickly,” he wrote.
