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A new bump in the road for Metro
Virginia's failed transportation session could have consequences for the Dulles rail project.
One of the goals of the special session was to replace the Northern Virginia transportation dollars that a Virginia Supreme Court decision invalidated earlier this year. Some of those dollars were in the form of dedicated funding for Metro, and the transportation special session did not provide a replacement. With federal matching funds, that dedicated funding source could mean as much as $1.5 billion in funding for the Metro system.
“The FTA's letter tied that money to funding Dulles rail,” said Chris Zimmerman, chairman of the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority, referring to the letter from U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters that announced final design approval for the rail project.
In that letter, Peters emphasized Department of Transportation concerns about Metro's infrastructure, and Virginia's share in funding it. Without that money, the $900 million in federal money for Dulles rail could be in doubt.
According to representatives of the rail project and the state, state officials will work on a dedicated source for Metro funding in a “transportation summit” this fall, while using one-time funds to qualify for federal matching funds. Where the state would find those one-time funds has yet to be specified.
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