Gov. Tim Kaine said he would back building a tunnel to carry Metrorail through Tysons Corner if local governments voted for it, even though he thinks switching away from elevated tracks could imperil federal funding for the project.
The boards of supervisors in Fairfax and Loudoun counties and two transit agencies have approved plans that call for an aboveground track to be built, but opponents have recently begun a heavy push for a tunnel. An underground route for the track will make Tysons Corner friendlier to pedestrians and help the area grow into an urban area that mixes office space with residential units and stores.
“I am for local choice,” Kaine said at a Tuesday news conference. “If the localities change their minds and vote for a tunnel, I will go along with it, but we have to recognize that changing the plans could jeopardize any chance of bringing rail to Dulles.”
Building the tunnel would cost about $250 million more and take a year longer than the elevated-track designs, according to engineering estimates. The Tysons Metro stops belong to the first phase of a $4 billion plan to extend Metrorail from the West Falls Church station to just past Dulles International Airport.
The Federal Transit Administration earlier said that although Virginia still has more than a year to submit final drawings, further delays and cost increases could damage the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project’s chances for crucial federal money.
“Right now we are near the front of the line for federal funding,” Kaine said. “There are a lot of communities that want that funding. If we have to submit new plans for a tunnel, not only do we go to the back of the line, but the federal government is running a deficit and there is no guarantee that money will be available when we get back to the frontof the line.”
