RK ARCHIVE - Kaine Cancels Afternoon Schedule for Metro to Dulles Summit

Kaine Cancels Afternoon Schedule for Metro to Dulles Summit

By: Lowell
Published On: 8/2/2007 1:05:46 PM

Gov. Kaine has cancelled his scheduled for this afternoon? Why? Sources tell me that Kaine will be heading up to the Hill for a meeting at 3:30 PM with Congressmen Moran, Davis, Wolf, and Jim Oberstar of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. Also, a representative from the FTA will be there to talk about the endangered Metro to Dulles rail project and how to fix it.

Apparently, we may still get the tunnel after all!

My source calls this a "shocking development," and I agree. Wow.

Comments

GOVERNOR'S UPDATED PUBLIC SCHEDULE (Lowell - 8/2/2007 1:09:13 PM)

GOVERNOR'S UPDATED PUBLIC SCHEDULE
~ Cancels today's events ~
Thursday, August 2
Fifth Annual Multicultural Business Conference. Governor Timothy M. Kaine will not attend this event. He will be represented by Secretary of the Commonwealth Kate Hanley.
When: 2:30 p.m.
Where: Ernst Community Center
Northern Virginia Community College
8333 Little River Turnpike
Annandale, Virginia
Law Enforcement Roundtable. This event has been cancelled.
When: 3:45 p.m.
Where: Annandale High School
4700 Medford Drive
Annandale, Virginia
Annandale Chamber of Commerce. Governor Kaine will not attend this event. He will be represented by Kathy Glazer, Executive Director of the Governor's Working Group on Early Childhood Initiatives.
When: 4:45 p.m.
Where: PHILLIPS School
7010 Braddock Road
Annandale, Virginia

I won't hold my breath... (ericy - 8/2/2007 1:12:04 PM)

but it would be nice if the congressmen could get Kaine to see our way of thinking.

FWIW - Oberstar is a big fan of bicycling. I don't know if it is related or not, but I would guess that he would be in favor of more pedestrian and bicyclist friendly options.

Bikes... (Eric - 8/2/2007 1:34:20 PM)

I wonder how many miles of good bike trails could be built for that 5 billion.

By the way, if you haven't seen (Lowell - 8/2/2007 1:20:13 PM)

this, check it out:

BASELINE REPORT ON
MAJOR PROJECT MONITORING OF THE DULLES CORRIDOR METRORAIL PROJECT
Federal Transit Administration
Report Number: MH-2007-060
Date Issued: July 27, 2007

I dunno (Silence Dogood - 8/2/2007 4:01:45 PM)

I just followed the link for Jim Oberstar in the post... you think maybe the part of his brain that worries about transportation and infrastructure projects might be a little preoccupied this morning with that bridge that just collapsed in his home state?

Yeah, but it isn't his district... (ericy - 8/2/2007 5:50:59 PM)

It is Ellison's district. The Muslim (not that it makes any difference, but it helps put it all into context).

I hope that the project is saved (jiacinto - 8/2/2007 6:25:43 PM)

I know that everyone on this site seems to be opposed to bringing rail to Dulles --ironic for a progressive blog--but I hope that the project continues. If it is scuttled nothing will be done for generations. It took them years to get to this point. For the project to die at the last minute it would be a tragedy for the area.

We're not opposed to bringing rail to Dulles (Lowell - 8/2/2007 6:47:02 PM)

We're opposed to no-bid contracts, to alignments that preclude smart growth in Tysons, to secretive dealings and lack of accountability, etc.

Well (jiacinto - 8/2/2007 6:50:17 PM)

I can sympathize with the tunnel issue. However, from what I had seen, Kaine et al wanted the tunnel; but the FTA, other elected officials, and the government told them that the project would not be approved if they did not go with the aerial route. It was either a flawed project or no project at all.

They were in a no-win situation and scuttling the project will ensure that nothing is ever built for decades. If it is scuttled at this late a date then it will never be built at all. And the region can't afford to have that.

"It will never be built at all" (Lowell - 8/2/2007 6:51:14 PM)

I simply don't believe that. Honestly, I think that's all a bunch of scare tactics and nothing more. Do it right, or don't do it at all, that's what my parents taught me. :)

Well (jiacinto - 8/2/2007 7:12:22 PM)

If it comes down to having no project or the flawed one I'd rather have the latter than the former. Metro is above ground in places like Old Town Alexandria and it seems to be doing well, although I will admit that it is in the right of way of the Amtrak line there.

With all due respect... (Lowell - 8/2/2007 7:21:31 PM)

...that analogy to Old Town Alexandria is completely flawed. Tysons and Old Town Alexandria have essentially nothing in common, except that they're both in Virginia.

Look.. (allinbaby76 - 8/2/2007 9:44:21 PM)

Jiacinto, everyone here knows that you want rail no matter what because this is our last chance ever in the ever wide world... Nobody's opinion is changing, I have to read the same comments every time there is a post about Dulles metro just to get to a real discussion on something other than "Let's do this thing". Let's talk about what this post was about, what does everyone think they are discussing about up on capital hill? Is losing FTA funding that real of a threat or is this a PR stunt or political posturing?

Exactly, that was the point of this post. (Lowell - 8/2/2007 9:47:55 PM)

What are Kaine, Moran, Davis, and Wolf talking about?

Does jiacinto's (Draft Me Please - 8/3/2007 9:07:53 AM)

email domain name read: @bechtel.com? A flawed project over none at all is just POOR thinking. Anyone ever heard the saying "do it nice or do it twice?" Google "Big Dig" if you're curious about what happens when you pursue a project that isn't right to begin with.

You get into questions of degree though... (ericy - 8/3/2007 10:41:13 AM)

How flawed does it need to be before you would opt for "none" over the flawed proposal? If there were minor flaws, you would almost certainly go ahead with the proposal...

If they had gone with the tunnel proposal, but with the same type of back-room dealing and no-bid contract, would that be sufficiently flawed that you would prefer None?

Those who don't believe in mass transit are eager for this project to fall apart. They want to spend the money on more roads, and are looking for any opening they can find to "prove" that mass transit to Dulles just doesn't make sense. If the current plan fails, I expect all of them to come out in force with plans to widen this, expand that, etc. A 10 year delay in getting some sort of Metro to Dulles isn't unreasonable, and the costs in the future will be far higher than they are today.

Do it right, or don't do it at all, that's what my parents taught me. :) (MohawkOV1D - 8/2/2007 7:56:48 PM)

exactly!

BRT (Eric - 8/2/2007 8:16:31 PM)

That's the best solution for the Tysons Problem!

Wow, when did you become a BRT (Lowell - 8/2/2007 9:40:28 PM)

convert? I don't think I ever heard you talk about that one before.

Here is what they might've been talking about.. (allinbaby76 - 8/2/2007 9:48:36 PM)

The changes, passed by the U.S. House of Representatives July 31, may prod consideration of factors other than cost in constructing the Dulles rail extension.

The passage urges the Federal Transit Administration to also consider a project's environmental and economic benefits and to not rely so heavily on current cost-effectiveness standards