MWAA
Proposes to Take Over Dulles Toll Road. The Metropolitan
Washington Airports Authority (MWAA), which controls Washington Dulles
International Airport and the right away of the state-operated Dulles Toll
Road, has submitted a proposal to take over operations of the Toll Road
and build the entire Dulles corridor Metrorail extension from West Falls
Church to Dulles Airport and into Loudoun County. The proposal,
which was made public on December 21 attempts to eliminate uncertainty
about the timing and funding for the second phase of the Dulles rail
extension from Wiehle Avenue to Route 772 in Loudoun County.
Airport. Officials have been concerned about the second phase of the
project, which will bring rail to Dulles Airport. The first phase is
underway with preliminary engineering expected to be completed by February
2006; a Full Funding Grant Agreement reached with the Federal Transit
Administration by the fall of 2006; and construction begun by the end of
2006.The authority proposes to use toll revenues to fund the state's
portion of the first half of the rail line, as well as the state and
federal share of the second phase. MWAA President and CEO Jim
Bennett has said that the authority's proposal would ensure revenues
earned on the toll road would be invested in transportation improvements
in the Dulles corridor.
View
Proposal.
Dulles
Corridor Rail Association Annual Meeting. DCRA hosted
a successful and very enjoyable Annual Meeting and Reception at the
Oracle facility in Reston on December 6. Hunter Mill Catherine
Hudgins welcomed the guests. DCRA Chairman Ken Plum presented
Leadership Awards to Katherine K. Hanley,
Commonwealth Transportation Board Commissioner and former Chairman of the
Fairfax County Board and WMATA Board and Senator John W. Warner for their outstanding
leadership In advancing Rail in the Dulles Corridor. Conrad Schatte, Sr.
Legislative Aide, accepted the award on his behalf of Senator John W.
Warner, who was unable to attend. The 2006 Board of
Directors was elected . Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project
Director Sam Carnaggio gave a presentation on the status of the project.
View
event photos. Partner Sponsors of the event wereJBG Companies
and WCI/Renaissance. Platinum Sponsor was Clark Construction
Group, LLC; Gold Sponsors were Dewberry, Dweck Properties,
Macerich/Tysons Corner, and the Washington Airports Task Force.
Silver Sponsors were Dulles Gateway Associates, ECS
Mid-Atlantic, LLC, Launders Trust, MC Dean, Truland
Systems Corporation, and Venable.
DATA/DCRA
Seminars: Transit-Oriented Development Not Just TOD Adjacent
Development.
On
Wednesday, September 28, 2005, the Dulles Corridor Rail Association (DCRA)
and the Dulles Area Transportation Association (DATA), cosponsored the
first in a series of seminars on "Transit-Oriented Development Not Just TOD Adjacent
Development." The program was hosted by Dr. John Wilson, Executive Dean of the George
Washington University-Virginia Campus in Loudoun. More than 70 people heard a number of experts speak about the
future of transit-oriented development (TOD), two local TOD case studies,
and a panel of four experts.
Click
here for seminar Summary.
Nov.
10 TOD Seminar. A
follow-up TOD seminar took place on Thursday, November 10, from 7:30 a.m.
to 10:30 a.m. at the National Rural Utilities Cooperative in Herndon. The program
included presentations by Robert Dunphy, Urban Land Institute, Dennis Leach, Director of Transportation Engineering, Department of
Environmental Services, Arlington County, Maria rosario,
PBPlaceMaking. and Rob Goodill, Torti Gallas and Partners.
View
Presentations.
Loudoun
County Chamber's Position Supports Dulles Rail Project.
"The Loudoun County Chamber of Commerce believes construction of the
Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project to Loudoun County by 2015 is important
to Loudoun County's long-term prosperity and recommends that the Loudoun
County Board of Supervisors continue to support the project; and be it
further resolved that the Chamber supports strong management by the
Commonwealth of Virginia to control costs and expedite the project
schedule, and urges the project team to pursue additional financial
resources to help fund the rail extension." Approved by the
LCCC Board, July 27, 2005
DCRA
Congratulates Project Team for Cutting Costs for Dulles Rail Phase 1
"The Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project
Team is to be congratulated on its first successful round of cost-cutting,
which brings the cost of Dulles rail into a reasonable range," said
Delegate Kenneth Plum, Chairman, Dulles Corridor Rail Association.
"It
is important to note that negotiations will take place with a contractor
to provide further opportunities to reduce costs," continued Plum.
In
a Press Release dated August 10, 2005, the Virginia Department of Rail and
Public Transportation said that it will submit its annual New Starts
program update to the Federal Transit Administration on August 15, 2005.
The update will include a revised capital cost estimate of $1.8 billion
for the first phase of the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project, which
extends rail from the East Falls Church Metrorail station to Wiehle Avenue
in Reston.
This
figure is $600 million below the top of the range of estimates submitted
in June by Dulles Transit Partners, LLC. Project Director Sam
Carnaggio has indicated that the route is the same, the stations are in
the same locations and serve the exact same business and residential
customers. "Our goal was to reduce the cost, not the
service," Carnaggio said.
The
Dulles Corridor Rail Association is a strong proponent of the rail
project. When the announcement of the first range of cost estimates
was released, DCRA issued a statement saying that it supports strong
management, accountability, and value engineering to produce cost savings.
The goal is to achieve the best possible project at an acceptable cost.
DCRA
is committed to seeing rail extended to Loudoun County in a timely,
cost-effective, and community friendly manner to relieve the congestion
that will occur as Fairfax and Loudoun counties continue to grow, as well
as to serve the expansion of Washington Dulles International Airport to 45
million passenger trips and 53,000 employees by 2015.
View
the Project's Press Release.
Cost
of Tysons Rail Plan Trimmed 25% by Peter Whorisky, The Washington Post.
$1 Billion Offer Would
Privatize Dulles Toll Road, by
Steven Ginsberg and Lyndsey Layton, 07/26/05, The Washington Post.
DCRA
Leadership Award presented to Gov. Warner. The Board of
Directors of the Dulles Corridor Rail Association (DCRA) presented its
Leadership Award to the Honorable Mark R. Warner, Governor of the
Commonwealth of Virginia, on Wednesday, June 1 at Sallie Mae’s corporate
offices in Reston, Virginia. DCRA
Chairman Kenneth Plum presented the award, which was received by Virginia
Secretary of Transportation Pierce Homer.
Governor
Warner and his Administration have demonstrated sustained leadership in
support of transit improvements in the Dulles Corridor and have
successfully managed the transit project through the environmental phase
during which Metrorail was selected as the Locally Preferred Alternative.
Preliminary Engineering of the 23-mile Metrorail extension is well
underway and construction of the 11-mile first phase through Tysons Corner
to Wiehle Avenue in Reston is scheduled to begin in 2006. Sam Carnaggio,
Dulles Metrorail Project Director, Virginia Department of Rail and Public
Transportation, will provide an update on the Dulles Rapid Transit
Project. View
presentation
Sallie
Mae, the reception sponsor, employs 10,000 people nationwide and is the
nation’s leading provider of funding for student loans. The company’s
headquarters are in Reston, Virginia.
Major
milestones reached on Dulles Rail Project.
Project
Receives “Recommended” Rating.On February 8, 2005, the Federal
Transit Administration (FTA) announced that the Dulles Corridor Metrorail
Project had been included as a recommended project in its FY 2006 New
Starts report to Congress.
Funding
In Place.The Dulles Metrorail project reached another significant
milestone on February 17, 2005, when the Commonwealth Transportation Board
(CTB) approved an increase in tolls on the Dulles Toll Road to fund the
state's 25 percent share of Phase 1.
(MORE)
FTA
Record of Decision Issued. On
March 3, 2005, the Federal Transit Administration issued a Record of
Decision (ROD) confirming that the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project met
all the requirements needed to close out the environmental phase of the
project.
(MORE)
Route
7 Alignment Modified. DRPT
has been working closely with DTP on Preliminary Engineering (PE) since
last October. As a result of discussions with Fairfax County, DRPT
announced on March 23 that it has modified the rail alignment along Route
7 between the Tysons Cental 7 station and the Tysons West station to shift
it to the center of the existing roadway – a distance of about 70 feet
from its previously designated location at the south side of Route 7. (MORE)
Dedicated
funding recommended for METRO. A
special panel was formed in September 2004, by the Metropolitan Washington
Council of Governments (COG), the Greater Washington Board of Trade (BOT),
and the Federal City Council to examine dedicated funding for the
Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA).
The three entities appointed 13 experts to serve on a panel to
research funding options for the region's public transit system. Panelists
were selected based on their expertise in economics, political science,
public finance and regional transit. They considered current and future financing needs, revenue sources
used by transit systems in other parts of the country, and potential
sources of dedicated funding for WMATA's needs.
(MORE)
