The Dulles Metrorail project plans to spend $1.7 million on five pieces of artwork along the rail line that will tie the region’s subway system to the international airport.
The Metro board is slated to review the five proposals Thursday, chosen as finalists after a more than two-year selection process.
The 23-mile rail project to Washington Dulles International Airport, which has faced delays and a growing price tag, is now projected to cost $5.2 billion.
The Federal Transit Administration last month committed $900 million for the 11.7-mile initial phase of the project.
The art will be funded through the federal and local money.
“As a percentage of the entire program, it’s probably a relatively small item,” said Bob Chase, president of the Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance that advocates for more funding for roadways. “Should federal dollars go for this? In a perfect world, probably not.”
Project spokeswoman Marcia McAllister said the art has been part of the project from the beginning. “It was in the project we assumed when we took it over from the state,” she said.
The artwork will help “create attractive facilities that increase ridership and enrich the everyday lives of transit users and pedestrians,” according to a Metro proposal. The transit agency also argues that it will provide work to those who design, create and install the pieces.
The five pieces proposed for the initial Metro stations were selected out of 167 submissions. It’s not clear yet whether the second-phase stations will include artwork, McAllister said.
Transit systems around the country have incorporated art into their stations and transit routes for years. Many include it in their construction budgets.
The Federal Transit Administration allows projects it funds to include artwork costing up to 5 percent of the project’s construction costs. FTA spokeswoman Ketrina Nelson said such art is permitted, but “not mandatory.”
“We’re leaving it up to the transit agency,” she said.
Metro adds artwork as it renovates or builds stations but “always” uses less than 0.5 percent of the budget, said Michael McBride, who manages Metro’s Art in Transit program.
“It would be wonderful to have artwork in every station,” McBride said. But, “funding is an issue.”
