A Virginia House committee will grill the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority next month over its decision to build an underground Metro station at Washington Dulles International Airport despite objections from state and local officials who would have to pay for it. Del. Joe May, R-Loudoun, chairman of the House Transportation Committee, is scheduling a meeting for mid-June to question the board’s decision and look more broadly about how the authority conducts its business.
The underground station will cost as much as $330 million more than the aboveground station Loudoun and Fairfax counties favor.
“I think this hearing’s incredibly needed,” said Del. Tim Hugo, R-Fairfax. “The way a lot of us look at it, the MWAA board is on the verge of wasting hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars.”
The meeting could place additional pressure on the board at a time when Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., is pushing legislation through Congress to revamp the authority’s membership to give Virginia greater control over the rail project. Gov. Bob McDonnell also called on the board to heed the concerns of the local officials concerned about costs.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is scheduled to meet June 1 with MWAA board members to discuss the decision. Wolf, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Sharon Bulova, Loudoun County Board Chairman Scott York, state Transportation Secretary Sean Connaughton and Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., will also be in that meeting.
Fairfax and Loudoun county taxpayers and drivers who use the Dulles Toll Road will foot a vast majority of the bill for the 23-mile Metrorail extension, estimated at $3.5 billion.
The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors has directed the county administrator to look at what would happen if the board voted to withdraw its funding for the project.
Del. Tom Rust, R-Loudoun, said he was concerned about the airports authority’s decision to require contractors building the second phase of the rail project to institute a union-friendly labor agreement, which opponents argue could drive up the ever-ballooning cost of the project by 12 percent to 18 percent. Board members defended the labor agreement, saying a similar one was used on the portion of the rail line already under construction.
The authority has not yet received a notification of the meeting and could not comment on it, said spokeswoman Courtney Mickalonis.
Examiner Staff Writer Leah Fabel contributed to this report.
