Virginia Transportation Secretary Pierce Homer will create an independent panel to settle cost-related disputes over whether to tunnel below or build aboveground in Tysons Corner as part of a proposed $4 billion Metrorail extension to Dulles Airport, officials said Monday.
In March, the project’s contractors said building a tunnel was too expensive compared with an elevated track. But proponents said the contractors, a group headed by engineering giant Bechtel and Washington Group International, overstated costs to nudge out tunnel contractors who would cut into profits.
A Spanish company proposing the tunnel said it could be built for slightly more than the aboveground cost. The project’s current contractors said it would cost $800 million more to build the tunnel. Metro’s construction officials said the cost difference is more in the realm of $200 million.
The panel, to be formed and led by the American Society of Civil Engineers, will consider the cost, schedule and other project implications of the tunneling option, according to a statement. The panel is expected to issue a report in 60 days.
“We are pleased to announce this independent effort,” Homer said. “It is critical that all the project partners have the best possible information to make this very important decision for the future of the region.”
Late last month, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted to urge Gov. Tim Kaine to order an independent cost estimate for a tunnel. Board Chairman Gerry Connolly said he was glad the state moved quickly to see an independent review given that construction on the 23-mile extension is expected to begin thisyear.
Connolly said county officials are glad that cost estimates will finally “be divorced from the contractors,” and said he feels the new numbers will be based on “good analysis.”
Fairfax Supervisor Dana Kauffman, who also sits on Metro’s board, said he is optimistic but “wants to be sure it’s not a rally of the usual suspects.” Kauffman said he didn’t want to expand on his comment.
Kauffman said even if numbers come in significantly higher, the tunnel is the “right way to do the project.” County officials are hoping to remake Tysons Corner as a pedestrian-friendly city center for a county that now has more than 1 million residents.
Behind the Extension
» The 23-mile extension is scheduled to reach Tysons Corner by 2011 and Dulles International Airport by 2015.
» The plan calls for a Metro tunnel to run underground for 2,100 feet west of Tysons Corner Center. The remaining portion of the line would be on elevated track.
» All four stations proposed would be aboveground.
– Examiner Staff Writer Christy Goodman contributed to this story.
