Dulles Corridor Rail Association 2007 Annual Meeting

On Monday, November 26, 2007, more than 150 members and friends of the Dulles Corridor Rail Association (DCRA) joined the DCRA Board at Gannett Corporation, Inc. in Tysons Corner for its 10^th Annual Meeting.

DCRA Board member and Gannett employee Todd Mayman welcomed the group noting that.  Gannett had been a member of DCRA for a number of years for obvious reasons.  Gannett employs about 1,400 people in the building.  When Gannett was in Arlington, Metrorail was right outside the door and many people used it to get to work.  When they moved and commuting to work by rail was no longer an option, they lost a number of employees.  A lot of people still take Metro but it means getting off rail and onto a bus.   In closing, Mayman said that Gannett supports the mission of the Dulles Corridor Rail Association to bring rail to the Dulles corridor as quickly as possible.

DCRA Chairman Ken Plum reported that the DCRA-sponsored a survey in October indicated outstanding support for the Dulles Corridor Metrorail project: 93 percent of the people in Northern Virginia favor it and in the metropolitan region, 87 percent do.  The more people know about the project, the more they like it.  The survey is posted on the DCRA web site, www.dullescorridorrail.com

Plum said that in its tradition of recognizing people who have helped move the project forward, DCRA was recognizing two gentlemen that have been the “go to” people for the project as regards federal involvement: Senator John Warner and Congressman Frank Wolf.

Plum noted that both men have sponsored studies to determine the need for transit in the corridor, made sure that the project was included in the past two surface transportation reauthorization acts, and appropriated federal funding for it.  Thanks to their support, $212 million in federal funds have been appropriated and the House recently passed a bill under Congressman Wolf’s leadership that includes an additional $35 million.  This bill is pending in the Senate and would bring the total appropriated to date to almost $250

In Senator Warner’s absence, Congressmen Wolf accepted the award for himself and the Senator and on behalf of their staffs, many of whom, he noted, have worked on the project for a number of years.

Wolf said that the region will miss Sen. Warner.  He has done so much for the entire state and certain areas including Northern Virginia.  He and Warner had been an effective team.  Wolf thanked DCRA and told Plum that he looked forward to riding the rail with him.

Jim Bennett, President and CEO of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) provided an update on the Dulles Metrorail project.  He thanked Congressman Wolf and Senator Warner for everything they have done for the project.  He noted that this is one of the more complex projects that this region has ever attempted to carry out.  Without the strong leadership from people like Congressman Wolf and Sen. Warner, without the leadership of the MWAA board, Governor Kaine, the members of the General Assembly, DCRA, and all present, we would not be having this conversation about the status of this project. 

Bennett said that the project is moving forward quietly but very aggressively.  Staff has been hired.  The project offices have been expanded.  They have brought in more people and the project management teams are in place. Bennett compared the situation to a volcano.  “The pressure is beginning to develop.  Very soon lava is going to becoming out very rapidly and in multiple ways in this community as we start construction on this project.”

MWAA submitted its request to enter final design to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) in September.  The proposal identified a little over $300 million in reductions to bring costs into agreement with the FTA’s numbers. 

Bennett said they have reached agreement on the cost of the project with FTA. “We are negotiating with the FTA on the formal process necessary to receive formal approval to go into final design, and we anticipate that that final design approval will occur sometime after the first of the year.”

Bennett noted that the project would not proceed in a linear fashion.  For this project to remain successful and to reach the schedule that has been identified, they are going to have dual tracks running in parallel.  The goal is to get utility relocation track started by early next year.  It will primarily take place in the Route 7 corridor.  He anticipates full construction to begin in the spring or early summer of 2008. 

Bennett said that if Congressman Wolf were still here he would tell him that by 2013 Congressman, you can take your grandchildren on the Metro extension of Phase 1 to Tysons Corner.  Bennett said, “Once we get this project moving forward in Phase 1, then we will turn some additional attention to Phase 2, which is equally important.  But we want to make sure that the first phase gets started before we focus a lot of attention on the second part.  So as soon as we can get this first phase started and get final design approval then we can start focusing on the delivery mechanism of the second part of the rail project and get Phase 2 underway so that in two years you will see the entire corridor under construction.”

Bennett said that all the conversations with FTA and the project partners were very positive.  Everyone is working as hard as they can to deliver this project to the community.  It is on its way.

Plum then recognized the leadership contributions of the Fairfax county Board of Supervisors (and staff) and their strong support for the project.

There is a long history of Fairfax support for the Dulles rail project.  The County manager was a major stakeholder in the environmental process.  The Board endorsed the rail project in 2002.  The project has been a priority of the current Board. 

Plum said that it is fitting and appropriate that on this occasion when we are hearing the good news about the project moving forward that we recognize one of the major players, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.

Vice Chairman Bulova accepted the recognition on behalf of Chairman Gerry Connolly and the full board.  Bulova said that she had been on the board long enough to know that major transportation projects are really hard, and they move along in a pace that seems glacial.  There are a lot of opportunities along the way for things to unravel.  Bulova said, “The Board acted in the best interest of the county and the best interest of our northern Virginia region, of our metropolitan region in moving this project forward.”

Supervisor Hudgins thanked DCRA for the role it plays  in making certain that the community understands what this project is about because our work is critical, but sometimes the message is not clear.  She said that while Jim Bennett talked about the volcano, she thought about giving birth.  “I’ve been at the nine month for a very long time and I do not think we can hold on for much longer,” she said.  “We recognize that the Metropolitan area is in a deficit without rail in the Dulles corridor.  For maintaining our quality of life, improving our environment, serving our community, our residents and our business, rail to Tysons Corner  through the corridor to Dulles Airport is critical.” 

Supervisor Joan Dubois said she had been involved in the project since the first task force was started.  She is a firm supporter of this project and always has been.  Dubois closed saying, “I will continue to watch this project and I intend to be on that first train without a cane or a wheelchair.  Let’s get this project moving.”

DCRA President  Patty Nicoson noted that since a written Presidents Report was available, she would touch briefly on a couple of things that were important to DCRA in the past year.  First was having transportation legislation passed by the General Assembly.  DCRA worked with Bob Chase and a coalition of Northern Virginia business groups to help come up with a package that not only brought funds to the state but brought significant funds to Northern Virginia.  After the Governor worked with local and state officials to come up with a politically acceptable legislation, DCRA worked with the coalition again to support the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority ‘s approval of the transportation funding mechanisms, which court cases pending, will be able to fund some specific projects in Northern Virginia next year.  For DCRA, passage of  the legislation  was particularly important because it will provide $50 million a year for the Metrorail system.   

In June, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, the Loudoun Board and the WMATA board, all three approved intergovernmental agreements and financial agreements that moved the rail project forward. DCRA worked with members of the business community and citizen groups to lobby in support of the approval of these agreements.

An important milestone was the transfer of the Dulles Metrorail project to the Airports Authority.  

A significant DCRA effort addressed the perception that the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project was not widely supported.  DCRA developed a Dulles Rail Now! Statement and has worked to get more than 60 major organizations and businesses signed on to it.  These companies represent most of the work force in Northern Virginia.

DCRA also undertook a survey as mentioned above that demonstrated very strong support for Dulles rail.  The pollster commented that you do not usually see numbers as high as that and that if you do, you get out of the way of the train.

Finally, DCRA spent time too on land use issues participating in the work of the Tysons Corner Task Force to develop a design plan and recommendations. And chairing the Reston Metrorail Access Group looking at providing multimodal access to the Wiehle Avenue and Reston Parkway stations.  

In closing, Chairman Plum noted that the Dulles Rail Now! List of organizations and individuals would be used in advocacy work with legislative and regulatory bodies to keep the Metrorail project moving forward.  Plum invited participation not just in DCRA but in the Dulles Rail Now! effort.  “The good news tonight is the project is moving forward.”  Finally, Plum introduce the 2007 Board, which gathered for a short business meeting to elect the 2008 Board.

Dulles Corridor Rail Association
2007 Board of Directors

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