WASHINGTON - The Federal Transit Administration has given the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority the green light to begin site preparation for the construction of the $5.2 billion Metrorail extension to Dulles International Airport, signaling that the $900 million of federal funds the project needs could follow.
In a one-page letter sent to the authority Thursday, FTA regional administrator Letitia A. Thompson told Charles S. Carnaggio, the project's director, that the MWAA could spend $14 million on site preparation for the project without jeopardizing possible federal funding as long as it continues to meet federal requirements. Thompson stressed, however, that its approval for funding of site preparation is not a guarantee that federal funds will be forthcoming.
Still, MWAA spokeswoman Tara Hamilton called the letter a "very good sign."
"It's certainly a very positive step in the process," she said. "We will have to submit the full funding grant request later this year, and then we should hopefully know early next year whether we have federal funds. This allows us to continue the preparation work. It allows us to maintain a schedule."
Thompson told MWAA officials: "This approval allows the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority to incur costs for the project ... and retains the project's eligibility for future FTA grant assistance. As with all pre-award authority, all federal requirements must be met prior to incurring costs in order to retain eligibility of the costs for future FTA grant assistance."
The 23-mile subway extension project, which will be financed partially by at least $1.2 billion of bonds, is being managed by the MWAA under an agreement with Virginia. But it has faced an uphill battle this year.
The project was considered all but dead after FTA officials in January told Virginia Gov. Timothy Kaine that it did not meet federal funding cost-benefit requirements and that they could not provide the nearly $1 billion for construction without drastic changes in the management of the project.
Part of their concerns was that the MWAA, which operates Dulles International Airport and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, has never managed a rail project.
But after project officials tweaked the original plan, FTA officials in May gave final design approval and $158.7 million of federal funding for the completion of a financial plan, construction plans, detailed engineering specifications and cost estimates, and other technical requirements. MWAA officials saw this as a turnaround.
The $158.7 million grant is part of the $900 million of federal funding that the authority is seeking for the project. The first phase of the rail extension - an 11-mile stretch between the West Falls Church Metrorail station and a new station at Wiehle Avenue in Reston, Va. - is expected to cost $2.6 billion. The second phase is projected at about $2.5 billion, but officials have said that estimate could be revised.
The MWAA has plans to issue about $1.2 billion of bonds to finance the first phase of the project. Hamilton said the second phase is too far off to give a concrete number, but that bonds will be used in that phase as well. The debt would be backed by tolls from the Dulles Toll Road, which the authority controls.
