RICHMOND — Gov. Tim Kaine said yesterday that he knew the Federal Transit Administration had serious concerns about the proposed $5.1 billion Dulles rail project months before the agency made the surprise announcement that it intended to pull $900 million in funding.
Mr. Kaine said he thought the agency’s concerns about costs had been addressed and was among those surprised Thursday when he and other state leaders met on Capitol Hill with Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters and FTA chief James S. Simpson, who then made the public announcement.
“I don”t know what happened in the hours before that meeting because we were getting positive signals right up until the meeting,” Mr. Kaine, a Democrat, told The Washington Times. “We walk into the meeting and it is like all the negatives.”
He said Mrs. Peters delivered her message and Mr. Simpson told reporters on the same day that the agency handed Congress a report stating the project “was a green light and not a red light.”
“We fund projects that are an A, B or C,” Mr. Simpson told reporters. “This project is a D or an F.”
He also said in a letter to Mr. Kaine that the project exceeds federal cost-benefit standards and the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority is too inexperienced to handle such a massive project. He also cited concerns about the maintenance backlog at Metro, the transit agency that would run the 23-mile extension that would link the District with Washington Dulles International Airport.
A person familiar with the meeting Thursday said FTA officials appeared ready to scrap the project until Sen. John W. Warner, Virginia Republican, took the lead in persuading them to give the state time to respond to the concerns.
Virginia lawmakers yesterday also responded to the potential end of the project, designed to improve growth in Northern Virginia and ease the region’s notorious gridlock.
Rep. Thomas M. Davis III, Virginia Republican, asked federal lawmakers to keep the project alive.
Mr. Davis also told WTOP Radio that Republican and Democratic leaders appear “willing to step in,” but the project “may take a different configuration.”
He offered no details about an alternative plan.
Republican lawmakers in the General Assembly said the state needs to look at alternatives such as transit buses to ensure it does not lose out on federal money. They also criticized the governor’s support of the airport authority, which runs Dulles and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.
“This is not an agency you want to entrust with the building of this project,” said Delegate Robert G. Marshall, Prince William County Republican.
Delegate Kenneth R. Plum, Reston Democrat, defended the governor.
“What we ought to consider as a legislature is getting behind the governor and the work that is getting done by Senator John Warner and Congressman Frank Wolf and say to the FTA, ’Don”t change the rules of the game. Let”s play by the rules that you had all along and when you do you will realize this project meets the criteria, meets the price and is a viable project,’ ” Mr. Plum said in a floor speech.
Mr. Kaine has until Friday to renegotiate with federal officials for the money to begin the first $2.5 billion leg of the project. He said 70 percent of the money for the entire project is from state and local funds.
He received one early warning in July when the Department of Transportation’s inspector general said the cost of the project had grown so much that it might no longer qualify for federal funding and urged the FTA to use “extra vigilance” with the project.
Mr. Kaine said federal officials also contacted Virginia’s congressional delegation about 12 months ago to say the only outstanding issue was the project’s cost benefit. In late summer, he said, he and other state officials responded to concerns about the project being too expensive by submitting about $300 million in proposed cuts.
He told WTOP that federal officials then said, “You’ve done what we’ve asked for.”
PROJECT DERAILED
Federal officials have thrown the $5 billion Dulles rail project into doubt after expressing “serious concerns” about construction plans. Some key dates in the project’s history:
1962: A transit study proposes a monorail in the Dulles corridor that ends in Georgetown.
1964: The Federal Aviation Administration completes a master plan for Washington Dulles International Airport that recommends a future transit line.
1990: The Commonwealth Transportation Board adopts a plan for the corridor that includes rail service as an objective.
July 2004: Fairfax County begins charging commercial landowners in the Dulles Rail Transportation Improvement District additional property taxes to help pay for the project.
February 2005: The state transportation board votes to implement a toll increase on the Dulles Toll Road in support of the project.
November 2006: The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) approves the final alignment for the aerial portion of the rail through Tysons Corner.
July 2007: The Transportation Department’s inspector general warns that the cost of the project has grown so much that it might not qualify for federal funding and urges the FTA to use “extra vigilance” with the project.
August 2007: The FTA issues a report that estimates the cost of the Dulles rail’s first 11.6-mile leg extension at $2.83 billion ” too high to qualify for federal funding.
September 2007: Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine and members of Northern Virginia’s congressional delegation propose $300 million in cuts.
Jan. 24: Mr. Kaine meets with FTA officials, saying afterward that he thinks concerns about the project have been addressed . FTA Administrator James Simpson notifies Mr. Kaine of “serious concerns” about the project that could jeopardize $900 million in federal funds.
Jan. 28: Mr. Simpson agrees to give Virginia officials until Friday to respond to FTA concerns. Contractors agree to push back for 30 days an “escalation clause,” which would increase the price of the project.
Source: Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project, news reports
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