The initial half of the Dulles Metrorail extension will cost $180 million more than earlier estimated and may not be finished until early 2014, according to a report prepared for the Federal Transit Administration.
The document, unveiled Monday, delivered the highest price projection yet for the 11.6-mile first phase – arguing that to run the track from west Falls Church to Reston will cost $2.83 billion. The figure, the report said, does not include potential “upward adjustments for project complexity, additional organizational risks, or cost growth to date.”
Monday’s report, prepared by Hill International Inc., is one of two independent reviews that will play heavily into whether the FTA agrees to grant $900 million to the project. The document comes on the heels of a highly critical audit from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s inspector general, who attacked Dulles Rail’s repeated timeline slippage and cost escalation.
Officials immediately pledged to trim the bottom line before the FTA makes a final determination.
“There is on the state’s end, and the county’s part, an absolute commitment to paring back on costs to meet the federal guideline, and we will do so,” said Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Gerald Connolly.
Even with the state’s earlier estimate of $2.65 billion, the project was already teetering on the edge of the FTA’s standard for cost and ridership. The Hill report casts yet more doubt on whether the project can pass federal muster without serious cuts.
“We appreciate the complexities of the cost-effective measurements that are required by federal law,” the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which is managing the project, said in a statement. “We fully intend to achieve the cost adjustments to make the project eligible for FTA funding.”
