Bulova: Find Federal Funds for Phase 2, Reston Patch, June 19, 2012

Fairfax County Supervisors Chair says Rail to Dulles is too important to fall victim to state, local issues.

By Karen Goff

Rail to Dulles was a subject at Tuesday's Fairfax County Board of Supervisors meeting, where Chairman Sharon Bulova called on the County’s federal representatives to pursue any and all avenues for providing federal funding for Phase 2 of the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project.

Bulova also signed a regional letter to Virginia Transportation Secretary Sean Connaughton, objecting to the administration’s attempt to circumvent the efficient transit funding system in Northern Virginia.

The future of Metrorail's Silver Line Phase 2 is shaky due to a lack of federal funding and the wavering support from Loudoun County. . . .

. . . Bulova pointed out on Tuesday the importance of the Silver Line to the region.
“[Rail to Dulles] will bring transit to our major international airport, provide connections to some of the county’s major business centers, and will serve as a gateway to Washington, DC, and the National Capital Region," she said.

"The Dulles Rail extension is not simply a Fairfax County project or even a regional project – it is a project of national significance. As U.S. Transportation Secretary LaHood has stated, the Metro system is ‘America’s system,’ providing access for millions of riders to the nation’s capital.” . . .

But yet Chairman Bulova and the rest of the voting Fairfax County Board of Supervisors (Supervisor Herrity was absent for health reasons) voted unanimously to proceed with Metrorail's Phase 2 without making their approval contingent on greater state or federal aid of any kind.  

Why our county supervisors voted for this initiative--which sticks Dulles Toll Road users with over half the Silver Line's cost--without some conditions of state and federal financing is beyond comprehension.  Was it blind faith that the Secretary LaHood and FTA (much less Governor McDonnell) would see the wisdom and virtue of stepping up and paying up?  As experienced party apparatchiks, they all know that you don't give up something unless you get something in return.   Yet, without so much as a second's hesitation or thought and only the most pro forma of public input, they voted unthinkingly for this outrageous financial arrangement that they and their predecessors (specifically then-Board Chairman Gerry Connolly) agreed to without so much as a public hearing. 

What they did was make more than 100,000 Dulles Toll Road users--more than half Fairfax residents--pay more than $17 billion to finance over half the line's construction, paid for through huge toll increases of the next several decades. 

With this kind of consideration of their constituents, maybe they will return the favor at the next election.