Virginia State Sen. Janet Howell (D-32nd) and Ken Plum (D-36th) have set a joint letter to Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) expressing their concerns with the projected rise in tolls on the Dulles Toll Road. Howell and Plum say they are concerned that the increased costs of the Metro Silver Line Phase II will "unreasonably affect" toll rates. "We respectfully request that you include in your next transportation plan an amount of dollars that will, at a minimum, keep tolls at no more than originally planned," the legislators said. After the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority voted for an …

When you look at the Metrorail that will soon (well, in 2 1/2 years) be stopping in Reston, are you sold on Silver? Should it be the Orange Line pr even the Pink Line? The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority wants to know what you think. Metro is conducting a survey over the next three weeks to solicit feedback on a revised map and potential names for the newest line. While the under-construction line has been called the Silver Line since its inception, it turns out Metro is not committed to that name and has brought in the original map maker to come up with a formal design. The …

Mame Reiley, chair of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority's Dulles Corridor Committee, says the federal government "really needs to step up to the plate” when it comes to financing Phase 2 of Metro's Silver Line. The board of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which is overseeing construction of the extension from Reston to Dulles and into Loudoun County, said Wednesday it wants Virginia to contribute $500 million and the federal government to provide loans of $700 million to $1.2 billion. Without the additional funds, Reiley said drivers would still have to pay higher…

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a resolution backing the U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood's proposal for completing Phase 2 of the Rail to Dulles project. The resolution reiterates Fairfax County’s commitment to completing Phase 2. “This resolution endorses the strategy in the draft Secretary LaHood presented last week," said Chair Sharon Bulova. “Rail to Dulles continues to be Fairfax County’s No. 1 transportation priority and the board remains committed to completing the Project in a timely and cost effective manner. The Board also is committed to …

On a 7-2 vote, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors Tuesday agreed to conditions that must be met before the board agrees to move forward with the Metrorail Silver Line extension to Dulles and Ashburn. A compromise proposal had been offered by the U.S. Sec. Ray LaHood after the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, the entity tasked with constructing the project, refused to back down from its desire to have an underground station at Dulles Airport. Other snags have popped up along the way, such a project labor agreement that benefits unions, but the aerial route and who will pay for …

Reston Association is drafting a letter to send to Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority chair Charles Snelling outlining the association's support of Silver Line Phase 2. While Phase 1, which will end at Reston's Wiehle Avenue when it opens in 2016, is nearly halfway complete, Phase 2 has been caught in limbo as authorities haggle over cost-saving measures. In April, MWAA recommended an underground station at Dulles International Airport, adding a potential $300 million to the now $3.5 billion price tag. MWAA officials, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray La Hood, reps from the Federal…

Washington, D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray said on Thursday he is rescinding his support for the underground Metro station option at Dulles International Airport. The mayor joins Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and US Transportation Secretary Ray La Hood in supporting the cheaper above-ground option. Gray said at a press conference he would rather have above-ground access to Dulles than no station at all. "I have reconsidered my position and we don't want to wind up with nothing," he said.  The decision stems from a recent meeting Gray and Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, who has said that the state cannot …

The Silver Line Phase 2 Coalition - the group of area business leaders that held a press conference two weeks ago outlining their cost-cutting suggestions to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) - on Tuesday sent a letter to MWAA urging support for U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood's cost-saving ideas. LaHood has been meeting with principals since June 1, when he set a 30-day deadline to come up with a plan to reduce projected costs from $3.5 billion. The 30-day deadline was last week, but reportedly progress is being made as LaHood asked county leader to ask …

The eastbound lanes of the Dulles Toll Road and Access Road will close Wednesday June 22 in order to accomodate a large concrete structure being put in place for Metrorail construction.  Here is the schedule: *    7 p.m.  -  The left lane of the westbound DIAAH will close. *     7:30 p.m. -   The right lane of the eastbound DIAAH also will close. *     8 p.m. -  ALL eastbound DIAAH traffic will be diverted on to a single westbound  lane.  At this time, westbound DIAAH will carry two-way traffic. *    9 p.m.    -  The three left lanes of the eastbound Dulles Toll Road will close and all …

The Washington Post recently published a profile on Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority member Mame Reiley, who is a big proponent of building a metrorail station underground at Dulles International Airport. The problem is that building an underground station cost about $330 million more on the rising price tag of this project's second phase that will extend rail from Reston to the airport and points in eastern Loudoun. The MWAA board's controversial decision has upset its funding partners in Loudoun and Fairfax counties. There's a reason why they call Reiley the "bulldozer." Find out …

When Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) board member Dennis Martire has on his work hat, he is aggressively advocating for project labor agreements that often result in contractors hiring employees who are represented by unions. As vice president of Laborers’ International Union of North America (LiUNA), Martire has posted numerous articles on his employer’s website praising anyone who uses project labor agreements, such as the Community College of Allegheny County for its K.Leroy Irvis Science Center project. But  some believe Martire may have crossed an ethical line on April …

Construction of Phase 1 of the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project, which runs from East Falls Church to the edge of Reston, has reached a major milestone.  Construction has now hit the 40 percent mark, according to project officials. Completion of this phase is expected in 2013. This phase of the project includes four stations in Tysons Corner and one in Reston. Construction is well underway on all five stations:   The Tysons East Station is  along Route 123 at Scotts  Crossing near the Capital One complex.  Construction is 24 percent  complete. Tysons Central 123, on the  northwest side of …

Stakeholders in the rail to Dulles Airport project met Friday morning for the second time this week to negotiate how to cut Phase 2 of the project's  $3.5 billion price tag. The three funding partners of the rail project—Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA), Fairfax County and Loudoun County—have less than 30 days to have a financial plan back to U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, who met with the stakeholders on Thursday. LaHood told the three parties that he wanted them to work together to cut the cost of the second phase. LaHood came in as a mediator as friction grew …

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today asked the key players for the jeopardized rail to Dulles Airport project to reduce the second phase’s $3.5 billion price tag within 30 days. LaHood called the meeting with the hope of tempering the friction with the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) board since its April decision to build a more expensive underground station at Dulles Airport. That decision  increased the project cost by $300 million. Original estimates for the project came in at $2.5 billion, and that’s the figure on which stakeholders are focused. MWAA’s …

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell sent a letter to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) on Monday, calling on its board of directors to reconsider its recent vote to pursue a tunnel alignment for the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project through the Dulles International Airport. McDonnell joins Fairfax County Supervisor Sharon Bulova and lawmakers from other area localities at expressing  frustration regarding the MWAA vote to pursue a more expensive tunnel alignment for the project. The tunnel option will add nearly $300 million to the price tag for Phase 2 of rail to Dulles. The …

Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chair Sharon Bulova  gave a tour of the county’s preferred Dulles Airport Metro station alternative to a group of journalists on Tuesday afternoon. Both Fairfax and Loudoun counties, as well as the Commonwealth of Virginia, have expressed their preferred option for the station would be to build it at the daily parking garage across from the main terminal, Bulova said. Last week the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority board chose to construct the location underground in front of the main terminal. She said she wanted to do the tour to show that those …

Update, Thursday: MWAA has canceled the Hunter Mill closing. It may close at a future date. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Drivers who use Hunter Mill Road in the Reston area will experience significant delays on or about April 18-21, when the road will be closed in both directions at the Dulles Toll Road between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m., weather permitting, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority announced.The nightly closings are necessary because of work on the bridge that will carry tracks for the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project in…

Fairfax County Supervisor Sharon Bulova and other local officials have drafted a letter to Charles Snelling, Chairman of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) expressing their  disappointment with MWAA's recent decision to align the Metrorail at Dulles International Airport underground. "The MWAA Board has bypassed its funding partners and gave no consideration to the fiscal impact of this decision on Fairfax County, Loudoun County, the Commonwealth, and those who use the Dulles Toll Road," the letter reads. "To state our position very clearly, we cannot and will not fund the …

 Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Sharon Bulova said she is concerned by Wednesday's Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority board vote in support of the  underground tunnel for the Dulles International Airport Metro station. The board voted 9-4 to place the Metro underground at Dulles.The board said the placement would be more accessbile for travelers, despite the potential increase in costs. This alignment could raise the cost of the project by over $300 million and delay completion by six months, Bulova said in a statement. “If the underground alignment endorsed by MWAA …

Reston took a major step in becoming a transit-oriented community with the a windy and rainy groundbreaking for the 2,300-space parking garage at Reston Station on Tuesday.  The seven-level, 1.5-million-square-foot  underground garage – one of the largest of its type on the East Coast – will be the foundation for Reston Station, Comstock Partner’s mixed-use development that will be located at the Reston-Wiehle Avenue Silver Line stop. The garage, which will cost $91.3 million to construct, is a public-private partnership between Fairfax County and  Comstock.  “This partnership is the first of…