Tag: Rail to Dulles
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“Value Capture” as Rail-to-Dulles Financing Tool
The decision of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors to fund its $270 million share of the Rail-to-Dulles project by taxing landowners around its two METRO stations could create a prototype for financing transportation projects in the future, argues Jay Corbalis, regional coordinator of LOCUS at Smart Growth America. “The importance of the vote —…
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Equal Opportunity Cronyism
From Liz Essley in yesterday’s Washington Examiner: The day after Mame Reiley resigned for health reasons from the airports authority overseeing the $6 billion Dulles Rail project, the authority quietly created a full-time job for her as a “senior adviser” to authority CEO Jack Potter and agreed to pay her $180,000 a year. … Reiley,…
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Hey, It’s Worth a Look
The McDonnell administration has discovered $5.4 billion in “surplus” bond proceeds to help pay for Dulles Rail. Unfortunately, that’s all there is to pay for Dulles Toll Road improvements over the next four decades.
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Dulles Rail and Disadvantaged Business Enterprises
by James A. Bacon The Dulles Rail project plods inexorably forward. The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority has issued a Request for Qualifications Information (RFQI) to solicit qualifications statements from potential bidders on the 11.5-mile rail line. Companies who submit applications will be narrowed down to a short list of five firms. The contract will be…
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No Stopping Rail-to-Dulles Now
by James A. Bacon The final obstacle to construction of Phase 2 of the Rail-to-Dulles project fell yesterday when the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors voted to fund its estimated $270 million share of the project. Now all four funding partners — Loudoun, Fairfax County, the commonwealth of Virginia and the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority…
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MWAA Gets its $150 Million in Extra State Funds
The Commonwealth Transportation Board approved Wednesday the allocation of $150 million in state funds to the Rail-for-Dulles project in fulfillment of a financing agreement worked out with the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, Fairfax County and Loudoun County last year. Of that sum, $100 million will come from old balances from Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT)…
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A Footnote to MWAA’s PLA Vote
A letter written by three former governors and a U.S. Senator — John W. Warner and Linwood Holton and Democrats Chuck Robb and Gerald L. Baliles — was instrumental in persuading the board of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) to reverse its policy favoring Project Labor Agreements in Phase 2 of the Rail-to-Dulles project.…
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MWAA Backtracks on PLA, Full Steam Ahead for Dulles Rail
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) board of directors voted today to eliminate its preference for Project Labor Agreements in the bidding for Phase 2 of the Rail-to-Dulles project, clearing the way for construction of the project estimated to cost $2.7 billion. Only a negative vote by the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors can sidetrack…
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More MWAA Hijinks
Is this really a guy we want on the board of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority right now? Dennis L. Martire, a senior executive with the Laborers International Union of North America (LiUNA), has racked up $38,000 in expenses attending five conferences in 2010 and 2011. Writes the Washington Post editorial board: In May last…
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Dulles Toll Road Transfer to MWAA Perfectly Legal, the Cooch Advises
by James A. Bacon Del. Robert G. Marshall, R-Manassas, probably did not get the answers he hoped for when he asked for an advisory opinion from Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli on matters pertaining to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA). Cuccinelli has gone on record opposing the Rail-to-Dulles project administered by MWAA as a boondoggle.…
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Reston Re-Develops as Metro Construction Progresses
The financing and politics of the Rail-to-Dulles heavy rail project may be a fiasco, but Phase 1 of the construction does seem to be coming in on schedule and on budget, and the imminent roll-out of Silver Line service is prodding hoped-for redevelopment around the Metro stops. The Washington Post provides a broad overview of…
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MWAA’s Murky Constitutional Status
by James A. Bacon Is it possible to create an interstate compact when one of the “states” is the District of Columbia, which, in fact, is not a state? To be more specific, is the agreement between the Commonwealth of Virginia and the District of Columbia that creates the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority a true…
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Former Guvs Urge MWAA to Backtrack on PLA Policy
Three former Virginia governors and a former U.S. Senator have urged the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) to “put ideology, partisan politics, pride and parochial interests aside” and reverse its decision to favor Project Labor Agreements (PLA) when evaluating construction bids for Phase 2 of the Rail-to-Dulles project. “The Project Labor Agreement (PLA), the key…
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Will Washington Mayor Gray Side with McDonnell on MWAA?
by James A. Bacon Overlooked in the contentious debate over Virginia’s representation on the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority board is this salient fact: MWAA won’t seat the two new directors appointed by Governor Bob McDonnell until the District of Columbia joins Virginia in amending the interstate compact creating MWAA. While Virginia passed the necessary legislation,…
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IG Report Highlights MWAA Board Conflicts
James A. Bacon It seems that “partisan Republicans” and “wild-eyed Tea Baggers” aren’t the only people who have problems with the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) board of directors. The inspector general of the U.S. Department of Transportation in the Obama administration expressed concerns in an interim report on its review of the board’s policies…