Tuesday, May 7, 2013
The federal loan program could save Fairfax County and Dulles Toll Road users millions, but the tight timeline is giving some supervisors pause.
Fairfax County transportation officials have asked the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors to move on federal loans that could help pay for $1.9 billion of the total cost of the Silver Line. FCDOT representatives presented the Board with a series of recommendations Tuesday afternoon in order to file an application for a Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loan from the federal government. Joe LaHait, the county’s debt coordinator, said if the funding partners secured such a loan, approximately $1.3 billion would be allocated to the Dulles Toll Road. Toll Road users are currently on the hook for 75 percent of the $5.9 billion rail project and toll prices are expected to increase dramatically in the coming years…
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Retired Fairfax County Executive appointed by Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell.
Anthony H. Griffin, who retired in April after 13 years as the Fairfax County Executive, has been appointed to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Board of Directors. Griffin, who was appointed to the 17-member board by Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, is currently a faculty member at George Mason University’s Department of Public and International Affairs and is the at-large Board Member of the Fairfax County Water Authority. He replaces board member Michael O'Reilly, whose term ended in November. MWAA, which manages and operates Ronald Reagan National and Dulles International airports, also oversees the Dulles Airport Access Road, the Dulles Toll Road and construction of the Silver Line project, a 23-mile extension of Metro into …
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
MWAA chooses design and construction finalists for rail from Reston Town Center to Loudoun County.
The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority announced Wednesday it has selected five teams to bid on designing and building Metro's Silver Line Phase 2. Phase 2 includes stations at Reston Town Center, Herndon, Innovation Center, Washington Dulles International Airport, Route 606, and Route 772. The five are listed below in alphabetical order, along with their equity members: Bechtel Infrastructure Corporation Clark Construction Group, LLC Kiewit Infrastructure South Co. Archer Western Contractors, LLC PCL Civil Constructors, Inc. Corman Construction, Inc. Skanska USA Civil Southeast / Granite Construction Company G.A. & F.C. Wagman, Inc. / Trumbull Corporation Facchina Construction Company, Inc. Fluor Enterprises, Inc. / Tutor Perini …
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Frank Wolf (R-10th)'s legislation would give Virginia more appointees on the MWAA Board of Directors, but supervisors want a hand in the appointment process.
As U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-10th) prepares a bill that would change the makeup of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) Board of Directors, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors are asking him to include language that would give Northern Virginia more influence in appointing members. The MWAA Board — which has been sharply criticized by Virginia officials in Fairfax and elsewhere for its handling of the Dulles Metrorail project, including a squabble over a labor agreement for Phase 2 of the line that will run from Reston to Dulles International Airport and Loudoun County — currently includes three presidential appointees, five appointees from Virginia, three from D.C. and three from Maryland. Wolf’s proposed legislation …
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
MWAA said Shouse Village's noise level sits at 3 decibels short of qualifying for a sound wall
A Vienna neighborhood that is hearing just how much traffic travels along the Dulles Toll Road each day received notification it did not qualify for the Dulles Toll Road Highway Noise Program, falling 3 decibels short of the necessary level to qualify. Representatives from the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which became responsible for the toll road in 2008, spoke with the residents of Shouse Village at the homeowners association's regular meeting Sept. 18. "The purpose of this meeting is to be as transparent as possible regarding the Airports Authority's findings," said Michael Cooper, MWAA's manager of state and local government affairs. "... The Airport Authority understands that your community is experiencing traffice …
Friday, September 21, 2012
Advisory group to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority will discuss proposed rate increases, financing
As questions over Dulles toll increases and Silver Line funding continue, the Dulles Corridor Advisory Committee (DCAC) — which advises the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority on the Dulles Corridor — is preparing to give its own opinion on the issues. The group will meet at 11 a.m. Oct. 5 in Herndon to hear updates about finance and construction of the Silver Line metrorail project, and also make recommendations on proposed toll rate hikes. The committee, formed in 2007, has eight members: two each from Loudoun and Fairfax Counties, the Commonwealth of Virginia and the airports authority. Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chair Sharon Bulova is serving as chair of the committee; County Executive Ed Long also serves on the …
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
As Virginia GOP pushes for control of panel, resistance continues with court ruling against governor
As legislation proposed by U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-10) works its way through Congress to rework the membership of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, Virginia leaders and the existing board remain tied up in court over the current membership. A Fairfax County Circuit Court judge ruled against Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) on Monday, leaving one seat on the MWAA board vacant as the parties resolve the dispute. McDonnell attempted to remove Dennis Martire — a Democratic appointee who has come under fire for a $9,000 plane ticket to Prague for a transportation conference that MWAA authorized — and replace him with Caren Merrick, a Republican who lost her run for delegate in the 31st District last fall. At issue is whether McDonnell had …
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
GOP blames authority’s ails on U.S. Senate hopeful, former governor Tim Kaine.
U.S. Rep. Frank Wolf (R-10th District), who previously pushed legislation through to expand Virginia’s representation on the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority’s board of directors, has now introduced legislation to completely rework that board, heavily weighting it toward Virginia. Wolf joined a group of Republicans in front of the old Loudoun Courthouse on Tuesday to decry MWAA and blame many of its woes on U.S. Senate hopeful Tim Kaine (D), a former governor of Virginia. "Both airports, the Dulles Toll Road and the Silver Line extension are all in Virginia," Wolf said. "Would anyone think that Virginia should have majority control over the operations of Baltimore Washington International Airport or the development of the H …
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Final segment of Phase I lowered into place along Dulles Access Road on Tuesday
Phase I of Metro's Silver Line project celebrated a major milestone Tuesday: completion of the construction of the aerial guideway. The aerial guideway was finished about noon Tuesday when a final section was ever so slowly lowered into place in the median of the Dulles Access Road. Applause erupted from a crowd of officials from the Metro Washington Airports Authority, Dulles Metrorail and Bechtel, who were gathered with members of the press to witness the fitting of the last segment. "The eagle has landed," said Sam Carnaggio, who has directed the project for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, as the last segment fit perfectly after the 45-minute lowering operation. "With the completion of the aerial guideway you can walk …
As Virginia presses to seat new members, DC threatens litigation.
The headaches never seem to end at the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority. MWAA has come under scrutiny for congress spending by its board of directors, its oversight of Metro's Silver Line, its reliance on Dulles Toll Road fees to pay for the rail project and its use of project labor agreements to complete its construction. And now, as the board of directors meets July 18 for a meeting, its membership remains in dispute. Earlier this year, Congress approved changes to the board's membership that give Virginia more representation. Gov. Bob McDonnell has pressed to have two new members seated, and has also attempted to immediately replace D.C.'s Dennis L. Martire with one of his picks: McLean businesswoman Caren Merrick. To …
Bob Bruhns
2:53 pm on Friday, May 10, 2013
Surprisingly, one source reports that Fairfax County staff hopes to get interest as low as 2% on its Tifia loan for the Dulles Rail / Silver Line project. Fairfax County preps to pay rest of rail bill Fairfax Times, May 08, 2013 http://www.fairfaxtimes.com/article/20130508/NEWS/130508899/1117/fairfax-county-preps-to-pay-rest-of-rail-bill&template=fairfaxTimes Looking at the US DOT / FTA TIFIA … more ›