Silver Line May Cost More Than Expected

Turnaround on Maryland end could cost Metro an additional $4.5 million year.

MWAA OKs More Toll Hikes for 2013, '14

Revenue necessary if Silver Line Phase 2 is going to be built, Airports Authority says.

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority board voted Wednesday to raise fees on the Dulles Toll Road through 2014, but held off on raising rates for 2015. As expected, starting Jan. 1, 2013, drivers will pay 25 cents more at the main toll plaza and at on/off ramps for a total of $2.75. In 2014, the rates will rise to $3.50. But the board put off approving an increase for 2015, in hopes of securing alternative sources of funding.  In deciding not to set 2015 toll rates, the board noted that the potential for low cost financing afforded by a TIFIA loan, combined with the potential for additional financial assistance from the Commonwealth and possibly other sources, along with the potential for a competitively priced Phase 2 Silver Line…

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Governor, MWAA's Martire Reach Settlement

MWAA board member will no longer battle spending ouster and will resign instead.

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell announced Wednesday that the Commonwealth and the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority have reached a settlement with Dennis Martire, the former MWAA Board Member who was was fighting his removal from the group for questionable spending. “Today, the Commonwealth of Virginia, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority and former board member Dennis Martire reached agreement on the terms of a settlement that put to an end the months of unnecessary and costly litigation between the parties regarding my decision to remove Martire for cause as a board member of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority," McDonnell said in a statement. "The full MWAA board considered and approved the terms of the …

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Bob Bruhns

9:57 am on Monday, October 1, 2012

These and other very questionable MWAA practices appear to have added up to several million dollars of inappropriate fund allocations. Not good!!! But don't let that blind you to the multi-Billion dollar inappropriate fund allocations that appear to be present in Dulles Rail Phase I and Phase II. Our leaders and media talk about a million or two; why do they not SCREAM about several Billion …   more ›

Letter: AAA Opposed to MWAA's Toll Plans

"It was a rotten formula at the start whose stench only gets worse with each passing year and the skyrocketing tolls that come with it."

With another increasingly expensive round of toll fee hikes in the offing for users of the Dulles Toll Road, according to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA), AAA Mid-Atlantic wants to reiterate clearly and loudly its opposition. We understand that someone has to pay for the $6 billion cost of the construction of the Silver Line, but the overriding question in our mind is just who that should be. At last check, local motorists, via their tolls, are being forced to shoulder nearly 60% of the costs of this project. The Commonwealth of Virginia, until pushed hard by the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood, had no cash in the pot—it sole contribution was to be the tolls paid by motorists. Now, after LaHood’s arm …

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Bob Bruhns

12:30 pm on Saturday, September 22, 2012

People need to look at the prices in the Silver Line job. We get multi-Billion dollar total numbers, and no detail - and then people who are hiding their identities behind pen-names, tell us that those prices are normal. But that is a lie - those prices are most definitely NOT normal. They are two times the normal prices, and not surprisingly the price of the overall job is close to two times …   more ›

Users Talk Tolls at Reston MWAA Meeting

Airports Authority collecting public opinion, but will it be enough to control rising Dulles Toll Road rates?

Citizens came to South Lakes High School in Reston Wednesday night to talk about tolls and there were plenty of people there from the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) there to listen. Wednesday night's event was the second of three public meetings organized by the group that oversees the Dulles Toll Road and the construction of the Metrorail's Silver Line. But will public opinion be enough to slow the rise in toll road rates?   Under the toll rate proposal, the combined main plaza and ramp tolls, currently $2.25 for 2-axle vehicles, would increase to $2.75 in 2013, $3.50 in 2014 and $4.50 in 2015 in order to help fund the construction of the Silver Line Phase 2. Advocacy group Reston2020 predicts tolls for area motorists …

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RCA Calls MWAA Public Hearings 'a Sham'

Citizens' group says Metro does not really want to hear public input on toll increases.

RCA says that Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority's planned September public hearings "are a sham" and a marketing exercise. MWAA has scheduled three area hearings, including one on Sept. 12 at South Lakes High School, to collect citizen feedback on planned increases for the Dulles Toll Road that will help finance Metro's Silver Line, currently under construction. RCA says MWAA should call the meetings a "public show and tell." “RCA is deeply disappointed in MWAA’s cynical plan to give the appearance of soliciting public comment without any of the substance,” RCA President Colin Mills said in a statement. “Even though MWAA claims to be interested in hearing the public’s opinion, MWAA’s plan for the hearings does not lay out a clear …

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Martire Ouster Has Cost MWAA $75,000

Board member says governor is wrong for trying to cut him from 13-member board.

It has cost the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority $75,000 to cover legal fees of a former board member who is fighting his ouster, The Washington Post reports. Dennis Martire, a Democratic appointee to the 13-member board, says his removal from the group that is charged with constructing Metrorail's Silver Line is politically motivated. Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) has argued that Martire damaged his credibility with questionable expenses, including spending nearly $9,200 to travel business class to Europe. Martire, an official with the Laborers’ International Union of North America, was appointed to the board by the previous governor, Tim Kaine (D). Martire has clashed with McDonnell over several issues, including a labor-…

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the-stix

7:35 pm on Sunday, August 26, 2012

Tammi.. I look forward to your linking PW County parking facility information. We can then judge whether the the costs are indeed comparable as you suggest. I also look forward to Mr. Nowakowski's response to Mr. Bruhns' (a determined opponent of Dullesrail) claim that that the current Phase 2 cost estimate is 2 times what it should be.. and that the Phase 1 actual cost is coming out 2 times what…   more ›

MWAA: Tolls Will Rise, But By How Much?

Group will get public feedback at upcoming meetings, but still has to pay for Silver Line Phase 2.

Metropolitan Washington Airport Authorities officials say they will hold a series of public meetings this fall to discuss increases on the Dulles Toll Road. MWAA officials said at a meeting on Wednesday that tolls are going to rise - the unknown is by how much. "I don't want to mislead anyone. Tolls have to go up," Andrew Rountree, MWAA's chief financial officer, told The Washington Post. "There's a minimum level of toll increase that really has to occur in order for the board to meet its responsibilities." Dates for the meeting have not been set. Tolls are already slated to rise 50 cents Jan. 1, 2013, and some projections say the cost of driving from the Capital Beltway to Dulles International Airport could double from the current one-way…

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All Rail Parties Focused on Loudoun's Vote

At Dulles Corridor Rail Association meeting, the most important update was the one coming from Loudoun Board of Supervisors on July 3.

The Dulles Corridor Rail Association's semi-annual meeting is usually one for partners to talk about construction progress, staying on budget and the day 18 months from now when Metrorail will stop in Tysons Corner and in Reston. The hot topic at Tuesday's meeting was a much closer date, though. The crucial vote from the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors looms next week. The decision from Loudoun County whether to continue as a partner could change the future of Phase 2 of the Silver Line, which will run from Reston's Wiehle Avenue to Dulles International Airport and into Loudoun County. "It is absolutely crunch time," Ashburn Supervisor Ralph Buona (R) said. "We have got to finalize financing by Friday night. There will be more public …

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Bulova: Find Federal Funds for Phase 2

Fairfax County Supervisors Chair says Rail to Dulles is too important to fall victim to state, local issues.

Rail to Dulles was a focus at Tuesday's Fairfax County Board of Supervisors meeting, where Chairman Sharon Bulova called on the county’s federal representatives to pursue any and all avenues for providing federal funding for Phase 2 of the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project. Bulova also signed a letter from the supervisors to Virginia Transportation Secretary Sean Connaughton, objecting to the administration’s attempt to "circumvent the efficient transit funding system" Northern Virginia has used for decades, it reads. The future of Metrorail's Silver Line Phase 2 has been shaky for months as the project faces a lack of federal funding and wavering support from Loudoun County. Phase 1 of the Silver Line will run from Tysons Corner to Reston…

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Rob Jackson

4:37 pm on Sunday, June 24, 2012

Mr. Jones, you have hit on a very important issue - what is the realistic capacity of the Silver Line to serve Tysons and the rest of the Dulles Corridor and to connect riders to both Downtown D.C. and Dulles International Airport. No one is talking about this. The total capacity for the combined Silver and Orange Lines is 17 trains per hour in each direction. With Rush+, WAMTA is now running 17 …   more ›