Assuming a procession of regulatory hurdles are crossed in time, shovels may hit the dirt on rail to Dulles by the end of this year, project officials say.
In 2007, the 23-mile extension of Metrorail to and through Dulles Airport will have a big year, a project with a price tag estimated at more than $4 billion.
By the end of February, Virginia and Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority officials plan to complete negotiations with Dulles Transit Partners to design and build the first half of the rail line. Dulles Transit Partners consists of the private firms Bechtel and Washington Group International.
Some local officials, however, are urging the state to put the project out to bid. If they’re successful, bidding could bring delays. State officials say they don’t plan to pursue open bidding unless negotiations fail with Dulles Transit Partners.
The Airports Authority is also in the process of taking over the project from the state. The transfer is expected to be completed sometime this spring. The Dulles Toll Road will also be turned over to the authority, which will use the tolls to fund the rail extension.
Also this spring, project officials anticipate receiving approval from the Federal Transit Administration to begin final design work for the first phase of the rail extension, which will carry the new track from past the East Falls Church Metro station to Wiehle Avenue. That approval will be a precursor to the federal government’s official commitment of $900 million.
If the FTA and congress pass a “full funding grant agreement” late this year, construction could begin before the end of 2007, according to project spokeswoman Marcia McAllister.
“That’s not to panic anybody in Tysons Corner,” she said. “We won’t dig up [Route] 123 and [Route] 7 at the height of the Christmas season.”
