A nonprofit advocacy group — whose board of directors includes prominent public and private figures — has backed Gov. Tim Kaine’s choice to put the Tysons section of the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project above ground.
The move by the Washington Airports Task Force is surprising because one of its board members, West*Group President Gerald Halpin, has been a major proponent of putting the Tysons segment underground. Halpin, who heads a development firm that is Tysons Corner’s largest landowner, has been a key figure in a recent push to bring an underground route back up for consideration.
The letter stems from a decision by the task force’s executive committee earlier this month, task force president Leo Schefer said.
The Examiner could not reach Halpin for comment.
Other board of directors members include former U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, George Mason University President Alan Merten and Tysons Corner developer John Hazel Jr.
Kaine nixed the tunnel in September after warnings from the Federal Transit Administration that an tunnel underground route could imperil $900 million in federal funding for the project by increasing its cost and delaying plans. The exact price difference is disputed, but Halpin offered to pay for the extra costs of a tunnel with other business groups.
Nevertheless, the governor’s “tough decisions” were supported in the Feb. 13 letter.
“Whether or not the project serves Tysons Corner above or below ground is not our concern,” wrote task force board chairman Stanley Harrison. “However, we are very concerned about the ability of the project to gain adequate federal funding in a timely manner, and we therefore ask that any further decisions your administration may make continue to bebased upon solutions that offer the least risk to the project time-scale and the acquisition of the federal grant.”
Although the letter doesn’t include an explicit endorsement of Kaine’s plans for an elevated rail through Tysons, the language echoes what state officials have repeated for months as justification for why the tunnel won’t come back.
