Rail Association Gives Update
Phase One 60 percent complete, Phase Two to begin in early 2013.
By Alex McVeigh
Tuesday, December 06, 2011
http://www.connectionnewspapers.com/article.asp?article=356411&paper=71&cat=104

The Dulles Corridor Rail Association held its annual meeting Monday, Dec. 5 at the Sheraton Reston, and members provided updates about the progress of Phase One and updates on the status of Phase Two.

Pat Nowakowski, the project executive for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, said Phase One was moving rapidly. Phase One, expected to open in 2013, will end at the Wiehle Avenue station.

"In the design phase of the project, we’re at 99 percent [completed], and at the same time we’re at 60 percent of construction," he said. "The aerial structure foundations are done, all of our piers are done, most of our aerial structure is done."

Nowakowski said over the next year and a half people will be seeing a lot of station construction.

"We have a lot of systems work to do, we’re starting to get substations and train control rooms delivered to the project," he said. "There’s 1,700 people out there every day working on this project."

THE DULLES CORRIDOR RAIL ASSOCIATION is a nonprofit membership organization formed to advocate decision-makers on transit issues, from funding and location planning to access and implementation. Del. Ken Plum (D-36), chairman of the association, says the annual meetings are a way to gauge the progress of Dulles Rail.

"Each year at this meeting we sort of make our way farther down the corridor. When you take a look at the Wiehle station and see the progress being made there, you know why we’re here tonight," Plum said.

Patricia Nicoson, president of the association, said they have spent the past year working on both phases of Dulles Rail, as well as with local organizations about future transportation planning.

"We’ve worked a lot on the land use issues, with Tysons Corner, we continue to follow that. There’s a lot of issues being resolved and a lot of people working hard. We’ve also been involved with the Herndon Town Council as it has worked on their transportation plan," she said. "It’s been an exciting year, but a fruitful one."

While Phase One is coming together, Phase Two, which would run from Wiehle Avenue to Dulles Airport hasn’t gone as smoothly. Funding issues have led to doubt whether it can even be completed, but Nowakowski said MWAA is "moving forward aggressively" on Phase Two.

"We have reached 100 percent of preliminary engineering for the entire line except for the portion to Dulles Airport, and we expect to finish that by February," he said. "We expect that we will begin the requests for qualifications for design-build teams in January, and we hope to conclude that process by the end of next year. That means we will start construction in early 2013 and it will be a four to five year project."

SHARON BULOVA, chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, said she would like to see the Silver Line run all the way to Dulles Airport, and the board would examine Phase Two at their next meeting.

"Our board will have on our agenda Tuesday a motion to agree to a new memorandum of agreement in order to have the rail to Dulles Project Phase Two move forward," she said. "That’s already been passed by the MWAA board, Loudoun County has already voted, and Fairfax County will do our part."

The board passed the memorandum of agreement Tuesday, Dec. 6.

More information in the Dulles Corridor Rail Association can be found at www.dullescorridorrail.com.

Update on Silver Line costs coming
Tuesday - 12/20/2011, 10:11am ET
http://www.wtop.com/?nid=149&sid=2629149

VIENNA, Va. (AP) - State and county leaders will get an update on the cost the first phase of the multi-billion Silver Line project to extend Metrorail through Tysons Corner and eventually to Dulles Airport and Loudoun County.

The Dulles Corridor Advisory Committee will meet Tuesday afternoon in Vienna. The committee includes the Board of Supervisors chairmen from Fairfax and Loudoun counties, as well as representatives from Virginia and the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority. All four entities are sharing the costs of building the Metro extension.

Tuesday's meeting comes amid concerns from some that Phase I of the project _ which extends Metro from Falls Church to Reston _ and is scheduled for completion in 2013 _ could exceed its $2.8 billion budget by as much as $150 million.

How much is the toll going up next week?

I love this $500 dollar a month tax my family has to pay because we live on the toll road, and the stations look ugly.

Atom Wrote:
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> How much is the toll going up next week?
>
> I love this $500 dollar a month tax my family has
> to pay because we live on the toll road, and the
> stations look ugly.


Your family uses the toll road 250 times per month??? (222 after New Years)

Or do you mean you also use the Greenway regularly in addition to the DTR?

If not, maybe you should adjust your driving habits...

Hmm... possible fail train leaving the station?

The most important reason we're doing this may not even happen (i.e. rail to Dulles Airport).

Theres an article on Phase II at http://thetysonscorner.com/blog/?p=238 also. I think theres more to Phase II than just dulles airport, I dunno how many people use the toll road but conditions are shitty at best recently (last 2 years) and I would rather get on at herndon monroe than go through the hell of the 495 toll plaza every day even if it is 2 dollars more expensive.

I think the toll inside of FFX county should stay the same and the toll should be for loudoun people who live out in bumfuck but use FFX jobs to afford their shitty mcmansions that are overpriced in the boondocks. Make your own jobs in loudoun and stop stealing ours. THEIR TAKIN ER JERBS!