Editorial: Politicizing rail a dangerous route to take, Fairfax Times, May 4, 2012

Below we present the subject editorial in its entirety for our readership.  We do so:

• because we agree that the building of the Silver Line should not be politicized, and 
• because not once does this editorial identify or address the critical problem with building Phase 2:  That a small number of people--Dulles Toll Road users--will be paying three-quarters of the cost, some $17 billion in toll over the next four decades.  

Until our political leaders of any and all stripes and our media in all its formats understand the core issue of equitable cost sharing in Phase 2 construction and address it, it will be impossible to arrive at a fair and economically successful solution.

Our challenge to our readers:  Find any reference, any at all, to the fact that toll road users will be stuck with most of the costs of the Silver Line.  You get "bonus points" if you find in this editorial a reasonable solution to that critical problem.

Politicizing rail a dangerous route to take

If Dulles Rail’s second phase can be equated to a football game, the project is trailing by a touchdown late in the fourth quarter and facing a 4th-and-goal from the 8-yard line.

After more than a decade of planning, Dulles Rail’s primary stakeholders — the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, Virginia and Fairfax and Loudoun counties — still can’t seem to agree on the color of grass. Virginia lawmakers aren’t interested in helping pay for rail; Loudoun County’s new board views rail as a bottomless money pit; and MWAA officials seem to think a union labor contract and $17 tolls will solve all the world’s problems.

Phase 2 construction, which would run from Reston to Ashburn, was scheduled to start early next spring. Now, if it happens at all, the first shovel likely won’t hit the ground until late 2014 or early 2015.

Delaying the start of a new house for a year can cost a contractor tens of thousands of dollars. Delaying the start of an 11-mile rail line for 18 months likely would cost several hundred million.

Everyone, it seems, owns a piece of this debacle. Rail’s most vocal proponents view the project’s cost overruns with all the urgency of an overdue library book. Rail opponents, on the other hand, have adopted a shotgun approach, arguing against every aspect of the project without offering up a single constructive idea or solution.
For more than a year, there also have been recurring attempts to turn funding for Dulles Rail into a Republican vs. Democrat fight.

It isn’t. It remains an upstate vs. downstate, suburban vs. rural dispute now complicated by the fact that much of Northern Virginia is represented by those remaining Democrats who survived the 2011 elections.

But Dulles Rail seems to have picked up additional opponents lately. Unfortunately, several are influential, statewide figures now attempting to align themselves with far-right voters by trying to minimize a project that crosses political lines in this area.
Perhaps the poison pill was the project labor agreement provision. It remains unfair to Virginia business, and we support those working for its removal. Predictably, a few too many have thrown the baby out with the bathwater. If PLAs are involved, they have no interest in supporting the project — and it’s Dulles Airport, Fairfax and Loudoun that lose as a result.

In a conversation with the Washington Post, Gov. Robert F. McDonnell expressed his surprise at how important the issue was to state Democrats, referring to it as “one 11.4-mile railroad in one area of the state.”

Well, to begin with McDonnell, it’s not a railroad. Light rail is entirely different.

(NOTE:  The Silver Line is actually a "commuter rail" line.  It is neither a railroad (like VRE) nor a light rail line (like the planned DC trolleys).)

And that’s not a mistake the typically tone-perfect McDonnell tends to make. It appears to us a conscious attempt to rationalize his abandonment of the project, and minimize the citizens of Fairfax and Loudoun counties — the ones already paying more than our fair share to state coffers.

During his campaign for governor, “Northern Virginia’s Own” McDonnell stood staunchly behind the project, noting its importance to the region. This was his message on the campaign trail, and it was his message during his meeting with local media. He never has gone into depth about where the 180-degree turnaround on rail originated.
McDonnell isn’t alone. Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, a McLean native and former state senator from Centreville, has been widely quoted as saying Dulles Rail is a land-use issue rather than a transportation issue.

As a matter of fact, it’s both — as he well knows. He tends to avoid the economic development aspect in his argument. As a land-use issue, it’s one that has been planned around for decades.

Although statements from McDonnell, Cuccinelli and other Republican leaders might lead some to think Dulles Rail is a purely partisan issue, it’s important to remember the project largely was shepherded through several key hurdles by former Sen. John Warner (R) and U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf (R).

During the 2011 election, the vast majority of candidates — Democrats and Republicans alike — stood behind the project. Some questioned the funding mechanism, but nearly all committed to working to fund the project.

Even if some elected officials have been less vocal about the project, the hope here is they continue working behind the scenes to secure fair funding and pump some life into a much-needed project.