Behind closed doors, Fairfax and Loudoun county officials aren’t as vehemently opposed to an underground Metro station at Dulles International Airport as they usually are in public, according to officials with the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.
MWAA Director Mame Reiley said that members of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors told her they would actually prefer the underground station, which is closer to the airport, but wouldn’t say so because of the prospect of agreeing to spend more money during an election year. All supervisors in Fairfax County are up for re-election this year.
Supervisors in Loudoun County also had similar sentiments, according to Director Dennis Martire.
Publicly, supervisors in Fairfax and Loudoun have cried foul over MWAA’s decision to build an underground station at the airport that costs $300 million more than an above-ground station. Both Sharon Bulova and Scott York, chairman of the Fairfax and Loudoun boards, respectively, sent letters to MWAA of their opposition to the underground station.
