Fairfax County Supervisor Dana Kauffman took aim at airports officials for beginning work on the Dulles Rail project without a commitment of critical federal funding, calling the plan “arrogant.”
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which is managing the first leg of the 23-mile Metro extension, plans to begin utility work in Tysons Corner without a federal decision to approve $900 million in funding.
No date has been set for relocating the utilities on Route 7, though design work is under way and the county has been notified of the impending work.
The outgoing Lee District supervisor furthered his long-standing criticism of the state’s and MWAA’s handling of the project. He agreed with Dranesville Supervisor-elect John Foust’s statements to The Examiner that the move creates an “air of inevitability” that could make changes to the project impossible.
Both officials support running the Tysons segment of the rail through a tunnel, instead of an aerial track, and putting the entire project out for competitivebidding.
“Every step they take toward it, they think will make it harder to do anything else,” Kauffman said.
Gov. Tim Kaine killed the tunnel idea in fall 2006 after the Federal Transit Administration warned the plan would make the project too expensive to receive federal monies.
Since then, officials have shown no sign of reversing that decision or changing the nature of the rail’s often-criticized public-private partnership. Opponents say the contract with Bechtel Infrastructure and Washington Group International was reached without adequate competition.
MWAA spokeswoman Tara Hamilton disputed the notion that the utility relocation equates to a construction start for Dulles Rail, arguing that they are distinct projects.
“This is a project for Route 7, this is not beginning the rail project,” she said.
The utility relocation is, however, being undertaken under the same contract as the rail line, and by the same contractor. It is also necessary to clear the path of the rail.
