Using the slogan “It’s not over till it’s under,” a group seeking to resurrect a proposed tunnel to carry Metrorail under Tysons Corner has taken the movement online.
TysonsTunnel.org is the latest, and by far the most polished, effort to reverse Gov. Tim Kaine’s decision in early September to abandon the much-hoped-for tunnel approach, which would have enclosed four miles of the 23-mile Dulles Metrorail extension.
“We feel that they’re not really doing what’s best for Tysons Corner, or McLean or Vienna, for that matter,” said Scott Monett, chairman of the Greater McLean Chamber of Commerce, which initiated the new effort.
TysonsTunnel.org is also seeking to have the rail project put out for bid, and is trying to orchestrate a new tunnel design that can be assessed alongside the aboveground track, Monett said.
While the frustration over the loss of the tunnel and the pleas to seek competitive bids for the multibillion dollar project are not new, both appear to be picking up steam as major issues in Fairfax County.
Federal Transit Administration officials had told Kaine and Northern Virginia congressmen last month that building a more expensive, more time-consuming tunnel under Tysons Corner would jeopardize $900 million in federal funds pledged for the Metrorail project. The governor announced shortly thereafter that the track would be constructed along an aerial rail through the heart of Fairfax County’s commercial hub.
“You get 116,000 people that work in Tysons, they are going to experience a nightmare for three to five years” while the elevated rail is built, Monett said.
The state is now in negotiations to reach what some call a “no-bid” contract with Dulles Transit Partners, made up of Bechtel and Washington Group International, to design and build the first half of the Metrorail project. The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors recently called on the governor to consider putting the rail extension out to bid, arguing that the advance work has been mishandled by Dulles Transit Partners.
TysonsTunnel.org undoubtedly faces an uphill battle. Because further delays will drive up costs and push the construction timeline back, each passing day the tunnel isn’t considered makes it less likely the plan will be brought back. And key state officials still say the tunnel is off the table.
“We performed an in-depth analysis of the tunnel concept,” Virginia Secretary of Transportation Pierce Homer said Wednesday. “It was an is an excellent idea. However, it is not a viable concept for combined state, federal and private funding.”
