One of the proposed Tysons Metro stations (top) and a Dulles subway railcar (bottom).

Although the full federal funding grant of $900 million isn’t quite a done deal, the major bumps seem behind us and the Silver line remains on track. The FTA last week authorized construction to begin in Tysons Corner. According to the Post:

Some preliminary work, including relocation of utility lines, has been underway since January. The pace of the work will pick up considerably after Labor Day, officials said, with more than eight construction sites likely to be in progress along Route 7 between the Dulles Toll Road and International Drive.

As a result, spot closures of the Route 7 service road will continue. And single-lane closures will begin next week along Route 7 and Gosnell Road, project spokeswoman Marcia McAllister said. Motorists have encountered lane closures on the ramps from the toll road to Route 7. That and other nighttime detours in the area will continue, she said.

In addition, the project office has instructed Metro, which will operate the new Silver Line, to begin the process of procuring rail cars

Overhead Wire is upset a subway isn’t still on the table, but Ryan Avent gets it right when he says that under the current transit-hostile FTA leadership, a subway simply isn’t possible and that building what we can now is the correct decision. A subway would obviously be better, but elevated rail isn’t all that bad (it works in Silver Spring and Chicago, after all), and at this point in the game starting over (and hoping for a more transit-friendly administration) would be too great a cost in both money and time for too marginal an improvement. It is perhaps unfortunate, but it’s time to move on.

Tysons Corner approvals aside, there was other rail-related good news in the Dulles corridor last week. On Monday the 18th officials at Dulles Airport unveiled the new interterminal subway, which will replace most of the aging mobile lounges. The railcars are in place and undergoing testing while construction finishes up. The subway, which is similar to those in place at airports in Atlanta and Denver, will be open to the public in about a year. Though we have some sentimental feelings towards the lounges, a subway will be far more convenient and efficient, and as the Post points out, will prove to the feds that the Airports Authority (also a player in the Silver line) *can* build a rail line.