Study model of TOD at a future Tysons Corner Metro station.

Sick of the topic yet? BeyondDC isn’t. A couple of updates:

• On Monday, the Post reported that private interests want to build the Dulles Metro in exchange for ownership of the toll road, on which they would raise fares. Reaction from Virginia officials has so far been mixed. Some want the thing built and don’t care how, others are upset about the prospect of higher tolls for drivers, and some smell a rat – US Congressmen Jim Moran (D) and Frank Wolf (R) are on record as believing the Feds struck a back room deal with private investors, and are trying to force Virginia to sell the road. At BeyondDC we think drivers should pay higher tolls anyway, but we are a little suspicious about this back room deal. We want the line built, but we don’t want to reward corruption.
• On Tuesday during an interview on WTOP, Virginia Governor Tim Kaine said that just last week the Federal Transit Administration sent a communication to Congress saying the Dulles project had a “green light”. Said Kaine: “The communication to Congress had been what we had expected, which was the project met the criteria. Why on Jan. 24 (was there) a memo that said the project had a green light? What happened in the last week to change it?” If true, this is more proof that our transportation and urban planning needs were attacked from above for either political or financially crooked reasons, and more proof that the FTA approval process is a sham.