Transit experts weigh the real value of Dulles Rail, WTOP, July 8, 2011

Adam Tuss, wtop.com
WASHINGTON -- Is the Metro extension to Dulles Airport really about the airport?

The head of the Federal Transit Administration, Peter Rogoff, dropped in on the Metro Board Thursday to talk about the project, and offered a blunt assessment of the real value of Dulles Rail.

"This is not an airport train. This is a train that is going to serve the entire region through Fairfax and out to Loudoun. Together, the stations at Tysons will serve three times as many passengers than will be served at the airport," Rogoff told Metro boardmembers. . . .

 Click here for the rest of the story, including more on Rogoff's comments.  

Reston Residents Outline Fairway Flaws To County Planning Commission, Reston Patch, July 8, 2011

Lots in this article from Restonians who stayed passed midnight to be heard.  Among those who spoke were Barbara Byron representing RA's Design Review Board, Diane Blust representing Fairfax Coalition for Smarter Growth,  and Tammi Petrine as co-chair of Reston 2020. 

Here is what the article said about Reston Citizens Association (RCA) President Marion Stillson's presentation:

RCA president Marion Stillson says Fairway is extremely important because it will set a precedent for about two dozen other neighborhoods that may next be in line for redevelopment.

"Why is Fairway so dangerous?" she said. "Because it breaks the rules at a time and in a manner that could spoil Reston. Fairway is the first residential neighborhood in Reston to seek development. If it gets the greenlight for this, what will stop the others?

"This proposal is dense in scale, urban in design and does not belong next to a golf course," she said. "It is unacceptable and violates Reston's values. Please reject it."

For the rest of the article, click here.  

Commentary: Task Force Trapped in Time Warp, John Lovaas, Reston Connection, July 7, 2011

By John Lovaas Thursday, July 07, 2011   

Three weeks ago, I attended a full public meeting of the Reston Master Plan Task Force. After having faithfully attended nearly all Task Force and Task Force subcommittee meetings—over 100 in total—during 2010, I had concluded this wasn’t the best use of my time. Thus, my top New Year’s resolution for 2011 was to stop doing so. I kept that resolution until I stepped into the room on June 14. This was my first Task Force meeting in over six months. 

But, lo, it was as though I had entered a time warp. The 20 Task Force members and Fairfax County Planning staff present were having a discussion nearly identical to ones I had heard in Task Force meetings in the summer of 2010, a full year ago. But, now they were not as far along in reaching conclusions about recommendations for the areas proximate to the three Metro-stations-to-be as they had been at the last meeting I attended! For the Task Force time stood still! . . .

 Click here for the rest of this commentary.  

Editorial: Win-lose proposition, Fairfax Times, July 8, 2011

Injecting public-private partnerships into rail discussion a slippery slope

Those who have followed the Dulles rail project over the past decade probably didn’t bat an eye when “public-private partnership” and “defraying rail costs” were mentioned in the same breath by Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Sharon Bulova on June 28.

Bulova (D-At large), while briefing her fellow board members on the progress of negotiations between the rail project’s funding partners, said Fairfax County is being asked to consider soliciting public-private partnerships to help reduce the fast-rising costs of the Dulles Metrorail extension. The partnerships would help pay for all rail-related parking garages in Fairfax County and a couple of rail stations.

Bulova didn’t mention outfitting county staffers with tin cups or lemonade stand recipes, but summer isn’t even half over yet.

Joking aside, what’s become all too clear in recent months is that the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority is out of both ideas and financial capacity. What’s also clear is that the project’s “funding” partners Fairfax taxpayers, Loudoun taxpayers, and anyone who uses the toll road between now and 2050 can expect to see their rail obligations grow tenfold (emphasis added). . . .

Click here for the rest of this Fairfax Times editorial.  

York: Loudoun, Fairfax Not MWAA's 'Cash Cows', Ashburn Patch, July 7, 2011

Board hears update on proposal from LaHood as airport board resists aerial route at Dulles. 

By Dusty Smith | Email the author

The Loudoun Board of Supervisors chose to ponder a proposal to reduce costs on the second phase of the Dulles rail project Wednesday after County Administrator Tim Hemstreet and County Chairman Scott K. York explained the proposal.

York  (I-At Large) said a hour-long meeting he attended the day before made it clear that the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority’s Board of Directors were no nearer compromising their support of an underground rail station at Dulles Airport, a key point of contention.

“I was a little taken a back that we were told by MWAA officials in this meetings that those of us who support an aerial station ought to be ashamed of ourselves and to remember that we are the richest per household income counties in the nation. And therefore there should be no problem building what they perceive as a world-class station at a world-class airport,” York said. “I’m just surprised that they just don’t get it.”

Click here for the rest of this article.

Developer Unveils Plans for Dulles World Center, City Biz Real Estate, July 6, 2011

The developers of Dulles World Center (DWC), a new mixed-use community at the intersection of the Dulles Toll Road and Route 28 directly across from Dulles Airport, are unveiling long-range plans for the project. . .

. . . At build-out, DWC will be comprised of 4.1 million square feet of office space in eleven buildings; 400,000 square feet of retail space; 1,300 residential units; and a 350-room full service hotel. The developers are committed to providing a mix of Class A corporate users, retailers, restaurants, and entertainment operators. . . .

If this development is built out as planned, there will be more than five times--maybe six times--as many jobs as residents in Dulles World Center.  This is exceptionally poor transit-oriented development (TOD) planning that assures massive congestion, air pollution, energy consumption, and poor utilization of Metrorail--the ostensible driver for the development effort.

I had hoped the Loudoun Board of Supervisors would be more enlightened. 

Click here to read the rest of this bad news article.

Pressure mounts to revisit Dulles Metro decision, Washngton Times, July 6, 2011

ASSOCIATED PRESS U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood issued cost-cutting recommendations for the new Dulles Metrorail station in a July 3 memo that include building a cheaper above-ground alternative. Mr. Lahood’s suggestions would pull the cost from an expected $3.8 billion to $2.7 billion.

 

 

By Paige Winfield Cunningham

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority is facing mounting pressure to revisit its decision in favor of an underground Metro station at Washington Dulles International Airport, after U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood issued cost-cutting recommendations that include building a cheaper above-ground alternative.

Mr. LaHood’s recommendation takes the side of Fairfax and Loudoun counties in an ongoing dispute over where to build the new Dulles Metrorail station. Concerned about paying their own share of the project, county officials want the MWAA to opt for an above-ground station that will cost $300 million less than the below-ground station the board approved in April. 

Building a pricier station is only part of the problem. . . .

 Click here for the rest of this good overview of the Phase 2 situation.