Holding key information as proprietary, Virginia refuses to make public its agreement with contractors to build the first phase of the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project.
Late last month, project officials announced the successful end of negotiations with Bechtel Infrastructure and Washington Group International to design and build the first 11.6-mile portion of the new rail line in Northern Virginia. That phase could cost as much as $2.7 billion.
This agreement, however, is only a memorandum of understanding, which means that elements of the project could change before a contract is inked with the two firms. State officials, despite holding a press conference on March 30 announcing the agreement, are not releasing the agreement.
“It seems to me that documents this important raise a lot of legitimate concerns if they’re not disclosed,” said David Snyder, chairman of the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission. “And one would hope that they would be disclosed sooner rather than later.”
The state’s nondisclosure makes an independent review of the current agreement impossible. It also leaves key details of the project unclear, including whether major components were struck to bring the price tag within federal cost efficiency standards.
Project spokeswoman Marcia McAllister said the final contract will be made public oncethe state makes its request to the Federal Transit Administration to advance the project into final design, but “there are still some i’s to be dotted and some t’s to be crossed” before then.
It remains doubtful, however, if any interim documents will see the light of day. Under a preliminary 2004 agreement, many details of the contractors’ original proposal are considered trade secrets and will be returned to the firms or destroyed.
The most recent refusal fits into an overall pattern of secrecy on the 23-mile rail extension to Dulles airport, which has frustrated officials and others outside the immediate circle of negotiators. The two entities overseeing the project, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority and the commonwealth, have consistently refused to disclose all but select details of the pending contract.
