Writing in the Herndon Patch, Bob Bruhns has dug into the cost estimates for Phase 2 of the Rail-to-Dulles project and raises some interesting questions.
Why, for example will it cost $235 million to build five parking decks containing 8,900 parking spaces, an average of $26,000 per space? That’s nearly twice the national average cost of $15,500 per space — even higher than the $20,000 cost per space in New York City!
A metro station recently completed in Fairfield, Conn., not exactly a location with a low cost of doing business, cost $43.7 million — after cost overruns. Why will the comparable Rt. 28 station cost $83 million?
Bruhns suggests that Virginians could be paying $350 million more than necessary just to build parking garages and Metro stations.
Concludes Bruhns:
So why did all of the official analysts miss this? Did they even look at it at all? And do our leaders not compare costs before accepting such incredibly expensive proposals? What is going on here? And what else will I find as I examine the rest of the line items?
I love it! There’s a man who thinks just like I do. Bruhns asks great questions. Perhaps there are legitimate answers, and that’s fine. But someone needs to ask the questions just to make sure. If we don’t our public officials accountable, the people in charge will get lazy and sloppy.
— JAB