MWAA to Virginia: 'Step Up to the Plate'

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 rates on the Dulles Toll Road.  One-way tolls could rise from $2 to $13 in 20 years and to $17 in 30 years, according to  the airports authority.

Phase 2 is expected to cost $3.5 billion. In July, MWAA and other authorities agreed to build the Dulles station above ground, which should save $300 million.

Virginia Transportation Secretary Sean Connaughton told The Washington Post Wednesday that the state has no plans to contribute that sum.

“We don’t have it, and we have no intention of giving it,” he said. “Our goal is to get this project back to the original price tag so we can move forward, and the state has already provided the Dulles Toll Road and its revenues to move this project at $2.5 billion.”

To read the rest of the story in The Washington Post, click here