I haven’t had much nice to say about Del. David B. Albo, R-Springfield, for his obstinate stance on Abuser Fees, but he did make sense yesterday when talking about the Rail to Dulles project. On the floor of the House of Delegates, according to Amy Gardner with the Washington Post, he arose to say:
“The proponents of this thing are basically violating the rule that says that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting different results. We’d better start thinking of something different, and we’d better start thinking of something fast.”
I guess that means Gov. Timothy M. Kaine meets the definition of insanity. The governor still hopes to salvage the $5 billion heavy rail project as currently envisioned, relying upon the federal government for $900 million. He is heartened, he said, by the apparent willingness of U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters to get to the bottom of apparent misunderstandings behind the feds’ decision to turn down the grant.
At least Kaine did say one thing yesterday that made sense: Replacing the federal funds with even higher tolls on the Dulles Toll Road is a solution he’s not willing to support. … Good… Now, if only he’d look to the property owners who stand to reap billions of dollars in increased property valuations thanks to Metro service and higher density zoning around the stations.