Officials Meet For Second Rail Meeting

Stakeholders in the rail to Dulles Airport project met Friday morning for the second time this week to negotiate how to cut Phase 2 of the project's  $3.5 billion price tag.

The three funding partners of the rail project—Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA), Fairfax County and Loudoun County—have less than 30 days to have a financial plan back to U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, who met with the stakeholders on Thursday.

LaHood told the three parties that he wanted them to work together to cut the cost of the second phase. LaHood came in as a mediator as friction grew after MWAA’s controversial decision in April to spend $330 million more for an underground station at Dulles Airport, instead of a cheaper above-ground alternative. The decision irked the other two funding partners, and Loudoun supervisors are investigating the impacts of opting out of the project.

The attendees declined to comment about the meeting on Friday. Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Sharon Bulova said she feels that to negotiate in good faith the specifics need to be thoroughly examined by everyone before discussing anything publicly.

MWAA board of directors chairman Charles Snelling, who was not at Friday’s meeting, said it wouldn’t be appropriate to comment on these meetings yet.

“We really just entered our discussions and it would be premature of me to comment on the substance of it except to say that ongoing discussions of a serious nature are underway,” Snelling said.

A 2007 agreement requires Fairfax County to pay 16.1 percent of total project costs. Loudoun must pay 4.8 percent and MWAA must pay 4.1 percent, with the other 75 percent from Dulles Toll Road revenue and state and federal funding. The tolls for the road could rise above $10 one-way in 2020, which has not pleased state lawmakers and supervisors in Fairfax and Loudoun.

Fairfax and Loudoun planned their financing around an earlier cost estimate of $2.5 billion for the second phase.

Bulova said in an earlier interview that it seemed clear to her during Thursday’s meeting that everyone realized the original $2.5 billion estimate may have been too low. But everyone also agreed that they needed to find ways to lower the project’s total cost.

MWAA was hoping to get a $1.7 billion federal loan for Phase 2, but LaHood apparently told everyone Thursday that there won’t be nearly that much available for this project. This revelation could force MWAA to reverse its decision in April and instead go with an above-ground station at the airport.

“We are dedicated to seeing this project is successful,” Snelling said. “We are now working with our partners for solutions.”