Talks on Dulles rail line continue, Dr. Gridlock, Washington Post, September 7, 2011

By Dana Hedgpeth

Officials at the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority said Wednesday that they continue to work with federal transportation officials, local and state leaders to hammer out the details of a deal on how to fund the second phase of Metro’s rail line to the Dulles area. 


At their board meeting, the authority said it is involved in meetings with a smaller team of representatives from the U.S. Department of Transportation and Fairfax and Loudoun counties to agree on details of a memorandum of understanding. . .

. . .The counties and the airports authority both want more money from the federal government and the state of Virginia (emphasis added). . . .

It appears that the two parties with the deepest pockets--the federal government and Virginia--which have so far contributed less that one-fifth of the funds needed to complete Dulles Metrorail, are quite willing to let MWAA, Fairfax, & Loudoun figure out how to pay for the other four-fifths.

The likely big-time loser will be the Dulles Toll Road user.

For the rest of this article, click here.