Tag: Rail to Dulles
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Assembly Balks at Reining in MWAA
Among other hijinks yesterday, it appears that the General Assembly shot down Governor Bob McDonnell’s bid to withhold $150 million in state contributions to Phase 2 of the Rail-to-Dulles project if the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority refused to accept two additional Virginia appointees to its board. Steve Contorno has the story for the Washington Examiner.…
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Loudoun’s Metro Marriage
This guest column was contributed by David LaRock, a Loudoun County resident and member of the Loudoun Opt Out Group. Spring is here, romance is in the air, and the arranged marriage between Loudoun County and D.C. Metro seems destined to take place. Although the courtship has spanned decades, the moment draws near when Loudoun…
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Drive Down Dulles Tolls by Restructuring Bond Financing
by James A. Bacon If the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) restructured the way it plans to finance the Rail-to-Dulles project, it could reduce tolls on the Dulles Toll Road by $.90 per driver in the early stages, Transportation Secretary Sean Connaughton told the Commonwealth Transportation Board today. “We’ve been going through their finances. We…
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Rail-to-Dulles Controversy Goes Statewide
The debate over Rail-to-Dulles has taken a fascinating new twist. For years the controversy over the heavy rail project and its concomitant financing through Dulles Toll Road revenues has been a purely Northern Virginia issue. It received zero coverage in the Rest of Virginia (RoVa). Ninety-nine percent of downstate residents were ignorant of it, and…
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$100 Million in Mo’ Money for Hampton Roads Tunnels
The Virginia Department of Transportation has reached financial close with Elizabeth River Crossings to begin construction of the new $2.1 billion Midtown/Downtown Tunnel project in Norfolk. Also, Governor Bob McDonnell announced today, he will ask the Commonwealth Transportation Board to allocate “up to $100 million” to cover the cost of delaying the tolls until January…
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“Address the Transportation Crisis” — Code Words for Mo’ Money
by James A. Bacon In a foreshadowing of a possible grand urban alliance, Hampton Roads mayors have reached out to counterparts in Northern Virginia and the Richmond region to unite in pursuit of a comprehensive transportation funding solution. “We all recognize the crisis Virginia faces as it relates to transportation, therefore, we strongly believe it…
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Rail-to-Dulles and the Debt Dilemma
by James A. Bacon General Assembly Democrats fought McDonnell administration proposals in the 2012 session to divert funds from the General Fund to transportation programs on the grounds that the transfer would short-change education, health care and other core programs. They don’t appear to be applying the same principle, however, to the issuance of state debt. A…
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Rail-to-Dulles Gets Fairfax Nod, Hurdles Remain
by James A. Bacon The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors has just voted to confirm the county’s participation in Phase 2 of the $2.7 billion Rail-to-Dulles project. (See press release.) The county’s share of Phase 2 will be $330 million raised through a tax on Phase 2 District property owners equal to 25 cents per…
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The Most Senseless Transportation Project Ever?
by James A. Bacon There is an interesting back story to the General Assembly deliberations over subsidies to the Rail-to-Dulles project (see previous post). Engaging in a form of informational guerilla warfare, a hardy band of skeptics in Northern Virginia has managed to inject a critical new issue into the debate: How much traffic will…
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The Latest Twist in Rail-to-Dulles Politics
Sen. Charles J. Colgan, D-Manassas, signed off Friday on a state budget compromise that omits $300 million for the Rail-to-Dulles project, reports the Washington Post. Colgan said that his agreement in Senate-House budget conferee deliberations does not commit him to actually voting for the compromise budget when the Senate must ratify it. But his decision…
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Pencil Whipping Mass Transit
In my previous post, I objected to the Virginia state Senate voting to pump an additional $300 million into the Rail-to-Dulles heavy rail project without demanding more accountability from the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA), the entity in charge of overseeing design and construction. Now, let’s stop to think what happens when construction is complete and the…
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Kissing the Pig — Wrapped up in a Bow
by James A. Bacon When push comes to shove, are Virginia’s Republicans fiscal conservatives first or culture warriors first? We found out yesterday when the Senate Republicans and Democrats reached agreement to pass a state budget. Republicans succeeded in batting down a $3 million Democrat-inspired provision for the state to pay for ultrasounds required of…
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Kissing the Pig
by James A. Bacon The good news for Virginians from late last week is that Republicans and Democrats in the Senate Finance Committee broke their deadlock over the state budget. The bad news is… Senate Republicans and Democrats broke their deadlock. The only way to paper over the divide between the two parties, of course,…
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At Last… Stottlemyer Appointed to MWAA Board
Gov. Bob McDonnell has finally got his man, Todd Stottlemyer, on the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) Board. Sadly, it took the departure of Mame Reily, a former board chair who resigned in order to battle breast cancer, to open up a seat. The governor had originally tried to appoint Stottlemyer, CEO of Northern Virginia…
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Showdown Looming over PLA
The McDonnell administration has warned the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) board that a recent decision to favor Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) in Phase 2 of the Rail-to-Dulles construction project could jeopardize $150 million in state funding for the project. Governor Bob McDonnell intends to sign legislation that prohibits state financing for construction projects that…