Maybe he had no choice, thanks to Davis, Wolf et al?  Personally, I would rather do it right or not do it at all.

This is EXTREMELY disappointing.  However, the WOLF and DAVIS strong-arming and THREATS reported by the Washington Post, should be SHOUTED from the rooftops by Hurst and Feder.  That federal meddling and undermining the long-term value of the Metro project, particularly in Tysons, is a MAJOR BETRAYAL of the taxpayers of Northern Virginia, who continue to pump billions into Virginia and the federal government, only to be rewarded with stupidity and short-term vision, coupled with a healthy dose of political pandering.

I suppose no money will be going to the southeast Fairfax County area in preparation for the BRAC impacts at Fort Belvior either---I am sure that Davis and Wolf will pull some kind of nasty threat out of their asses if the problems could be solved by some version of mass transit.....but only if they can keep the expenditure but lessen the potential benefits!

with Davis and Wolf.  Besides their 90%+ voting record with Bush, they have now demonstrated that their mult-term incumbencies, in a Republican-majority Congress no less (!), are absolutely worthless when it comes to getting good stuff for their districts.  Throw the bums out!

The THREATS that Wolf and Davis made on this were done so out of the supposed federal guidelines that begin to question funding for major projects if they get over a certain amount for the federal goverment.  How the hell did Davis and Wolf ever agree to allow this kind of idea, when the engineer-presented VDOT studies suggested very little difference in cost between a tunnel and elevated rail, to dominate their outlook?

WTF to Davis and Wolf!!????

I don't see why everybody is so furious with Davis, Wolf, etc.  Cut the guys a break.  This was the governor's decision, and everybody was in favor of it.  Davis and Wolf just wanted to make sure that all the facts were laid out on the table and the decision was well thought out and there was no rush to judgment.  That appears to have been the case.

When you're talking about tolls in excess of $4 on the Toll Road, years of delays, and another $1 billion, maybe a tunnel wasn't such a great idea.  Would I have preferred a tunnel?  Absolutely.  But there won't be one, and that's the way it goes.  Perhaps the costs of having a tunnel were in fact too great in the end, and that's what everybody seems to have thought.

Bottom line - decision made, now we can get this puppy under construction.

It seems to me you can just as easily blame Kaine for deciding to do above ground.  And "playing politics" for the reasons you've stated above.  I'm not about to that, nor do I think at all that's the case.  Ultimately, this is an unfortunate decision, but one that's been made.  So we can finally stop our squabbling and be apprehensive about getting rail out to Dulles!

about the trolley system in San Diego.  There are very few tunnels and more overpasses. I think the overpasses were less intrusive on existing traffic patterns when they were built, and I think the cost it's very much more cost-effective to build an overpass than to have to dig underground.  (I've worked for a site construction company in VA, so I know the costs to move dirt.  It's expensive because it has to be moved by diesel-gulping trucks and dug by diesel-gulping machinery, and then, there's the problem of shoring up the tunnel for safety reasons.  It's a huge expense.  Don't know who the sponsors of Smarter Growth are...they must own dump trucks)  The San Diego system is a good one.  SD has recently expanded the system and with great success. Whatever the means, mass transit is a GOOD thing...no matter whether it's a tunnel or overpass.

regarding lwumom's reasons against the tunnel: add the Boston fiasco -- years and millions later, a bolt shakes loose and all politicians run scared and point fingers.

Even though I hardly ever venture that far north, I did, originally, think that a tunnel would be a much better idea -- out of sight, out of mind, and you can plant all sorts of greenery on top. But you can plant greenery under the underpass also, if it's high enough; it's still *not paved over area*. And you can build houses near-by, same as you could if the train went underground, even though there'll be a bit less room.

Noise will be a factor, I suppose -- it would not be heard, if the line went underground -- but I doubt it's likely to add much to the existing level.

And, as lwumom says (moms *do* know best ) what's *really* important is that public transport is available, SOON. Before  we're caught in an irretrievable maelstrom of the global warming's consequences...