Virginia’s lieutenant governor on Tuesday entered the contentious battle to resurrect the Tysons tunnel — a now months-long fight between the state and Tysons Corner business groups over how rail will cross Fairfax County’s commercial hub.
Bill Bolling, a Republican elected in 2005, wrote to Gov. Tim Kaine to urge him to reconsider his plan to run an elevated rail through Tysons and “evaluate anew the costs and benefits of the tunnel option.”
Kaine nixed the tunnel in September after federal officials warned associated cost increases and delays could put $900 million in federal funds in jeopardy for the first half of the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project. When fully built, the 23-mile rail line will run from west Falls Church to Loudoun County.
Bolling’s request to re-evaluate the tunnel idea comes just one day after Kaine reasserted yet again his earlier decision against the proposal. Kaine and some Northern Virginia congressmen have repeatedly said a re-evaluation of the underground route is not feasible.
Businesses in Tysons Corner have organized to convince the governor to bring back the tunnel. Tysonstunnel.org prepared multimillion-dollar engineering documents and sent them to dozens of officials. “Based on the most recent information I have seen it appears as though the initial cost comparisons between the above-ground rail system and the tunnel option may have been inaccurate,” Bolling wrote. “While the tunnel may still be more expensive, the difference may not be as great as originally estimated.”
“We appreciate the lieutenant governor’s interest,” Kaine spokesman Kevin Hall said via e-mail.
