Projects Hinge on Metrorail Plan

MCLEAN, VA-Virginia transportation department officials hold the key to where new commercial development and redevelopment will surface along a 23-mile passenger rail line from Tysons Corner to Washington Dulles International Airport, according to staffers in the office of Gov. Timothy M. Kaine.

Kaine wants the Virginia General Assembly to approve the planned $4-billion Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project so that new office park and retail developments will follow a prescribed construction plan. Virginia road officials are working on a specific route for new developments along the Metrorail project and on nearby roads which the governor also wants upgraded, Kaine’s office says. Their suggestions are expected over the summer.

Meanwhile, developers bide their time, awaiting the report. For example, McLean-based West Group plans to create a mini-city on 142 acres the company owns in Tysons Corner, West Group officials have previously announced.

Fairfax County officials are also waiting for new cost numbers on the Metrorail project, county staffers confirm. The county has to decide whether it would be cost-effective to submerge four miles of the project in an 80-foot deep tunnel under Tysons Corner. That realignment is supposed to diminish noise from an elevated rail line, according to sources familiar with the project.

The additional cost could be about $500 million, according to persons in a position to know. The new cost numbers are expected to be completed by Aug. 1. The federal government has tentatively pledged $900 million for the rail project. Toll-road revenue would fund most of the project.