A plan to lay 23-miles of Metrorail through the heart of Northern Virginia lurched forward in 2006, showing marked progress but enduring delays and uncertainty that culminated with the death of the Tysons tunnel. The tunnel debate overwhelmed public discourse on the rail extension for much of the year. Burrowing under what many consider to be Fairfax County’s downtown was almost entirely preferred tothe vaulting, obtrusive aerial rail, which would cut directly through Tysons.
But the tunnel was also deemed more expensive by at least $250,000, and would have taken a year longer to build. Federal transit officials reportedly warned Gov. Tim Kaine that the tunnel would jeopardize $900 million in federal funding due to strict cost-benefit standards.
To some, the governor’s decision this fall to abandon the planned four-mile tunnel under Tysons brought disappointment but grudging acceptance. To others, it brought confusion. Still others were — and still are — incredulous that the much-favored concept can’t be resurrected. A local chamber of commerce launched a campaign to bring it back, organized under the banner of TysonsTunnel.org. But, despite their reported $3.5 million in funds, the road will be a rocky one; Kaine has not stated any intention of reversing his decision.
The debate, which played out for a large part of the year, has been blamed for tagging months of delays onto the project.
But the tunnel wasn’t the only contentious topic on the minds of rail planners, contractors, residents and officials this year. Also hotly debated was the very competitiveness of the project itself. Critics leveled the harshest of government procurement-related epithets at Dulles rail: “no-bid.”
Rail to Dulles makes use of a the Public Private Transportation Partnership Act, which allows the state to enter into a “design-build” contract with Dulles Transit Partners for the first half of the track without going through a traditional bidding process. Dulles Transit Partners is a duo of firms composed of Bechtel and Washington Group International.
Some local groups and officials have urged the project be put out to bid; state officials say the original process was competitive, but could seek bids for the design and construction if negotiations with Dulles Transit Partners fail.
