"We have lost our ambition, our imagination, and our willingness to do the things that built the Golden Gate Bridge" - Barack Obama (aka President Malaise)
Metrorail Mania And Official Secrecy
By Greg L | 9 April 2007 | Virginia Politics | 9 Comments
The development project will cost over four billion dollars. The contract for the effort will be awarded to a contractor without competitive bidding. Documents related to the project are secret and will not be released to the public. Are we talking about a fast-track Iraq reconstruction project, or some Chinese dam? Of course not! This is the extension of metrorail out to Dulles Airport, which is rapidly becoming Northern Virginia’s boondoggle of the century.
Today’s DC Examiner gives us an update on this project, which stokes the fire:
The most recent refusal fits into an overall pattern of secrecy on the 23-mile rail extension to Dulles airport, which has frustrated officials and others outside the immediate circle of negotiators. The two entities overseeing the project, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority and the commonwealth, have consistently refused to disclose all but select details of the pending contract.
Not only are we spending an outrageous amount of money on a transportation project that will only benefit a small fraction of Virginia’s residents, not only are we turning over authority for a huge chunk of land over the unaccountable MWAA which has proven itself in the past to be actively hostile to the rights of citizens who tread on their turf, but the entire contract management process has been an exercise in opacity, bizarre decisionmaking, and continuously frustrated attempts to provide independent oversight. The potential for fraud, abuse and outright theft here is stunningly enormous.
Yet the Governor seems so enamored with the idea of ramming mass transit projects down the throats of Virginia taxpayers that there’s been not a peep from his office about the serial failure of government officials to protect the public interest. Government secrecy, a serious lack of oversight, and serious weaknesses in contract management you say? But this is for metrorail! Press on! We’ll make all this money back by selling carbon offsets!
Does anyone think that the taxpayers will get out of this horrible nightmare for anything less than six billion dollars? Or should we worsen the forecast here now that the Kaine Administration has stamped “secret” on almost every interim contract document for the project?
You’d think Robert Mugabe was in charge of this.
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Here is a copy of my bill from the 2006 special session which would have required the permission of the General Assembly before Governor Kaine could have given away the Dulles Toll Road to the Metropolitian Washington Airport Authority. It passed the House 49-47 but failed on a 14-0 vote in the Senate Transportation Committee.
WIth the passage of HB 3202 government is disappearing from public view into closed door meetings with favored contractors and a few, a very few public officials of agency personnel. The MWAA claims it is not under the Virginia Freedom of Information law. the MWAA also refused to agree to caps on toll increases on the Dulles Toll Road.
HOUSE BILL NO. 5068
House Amendments in [ ] – September 28, 2006
A BILL to require legislative authorization from the General Assembly for agreements or contracts transferring responsibility for toll facilities controlled by [ an agency or institution of the Commonwealth. ]
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Patrons Prior to Engrossment–Delegate Marshall, R.G.
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Referred to Committee on Transportation
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Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia:
1. § 1. That no agreement or contract to transfer responsibility [ from an agency or institution of the Commonwealth ] for control, maintenance, and/or operation of any toll facility [ from the Virginia Department of Transportation then controlled, maintained and/or operated by such agency or institution of the Commonwealth ] to any other public or private entity shall be entered into by the Commonwealth or any agency, instrumentality, or political subdivision thereof without prior legislative authorization from the General Assembly.
[ 2. That the provisions of this act shall apply only to toll facilities operated by any agency or institution of the Commonwealth on July 1, 2006. ]
Thanks for engaging in the fight on this. Perhaps next year you’ll have a better senate to work with that won’t be so eager to allow this sort of travesty.
I travel all the roads in Virginia. About the only road that never gets a traffic jam is the Dulles Airport Access Road on the inside of the toll road. Route 1, route 28, route 7, highway 95, highway 395 and highway 66 are all a complete mess.
And they want to add rail for a road that never gets a traffic jam out to the airport. There is no need for rail to Dulles. The trains will be empty and the taxis and supper Shuttles will be put out of work. This is an outrage.
Anonymous, the Access Road is for airport traffic only (controlled by MWAA). The outer toll lanes (Dulles Toll Road) are a separate roadway (under the jurisdiction of VDOT) and do indeed backup. Futher, the Dulles Toll Road dumps onto 66E inside the beltway. Running Metro further west to Dulles would provide an alternative for the fast growing areas around Ashburn and eastern Loudoun County and would provide a route to Tysons in the mix.
The rail line isn’t intended to simply alleviate traffic to/from Dulles airport.
That said, the secrecy surrounding the whole project is a bit trifling. MWAA has always operated as an extra-governmental body. The official mailing address for Dulles Airport, for instance, is Washington, DC. The MWAA’s charter was granted by Congress (along with the DC Council and Virginia Legislature), so it thinks it can operate outside the confines of Virginia law (even though there is established precedent and law that state otherwise).
Actually, the address for MWAA that is a Washington, D.C. address goes to Reagan airport…which is in Alexandria.
So they are technically in Virginia, even though their mailing address says they’re in DC.
Anonymous, that was the point I was making. MWAA doesn’t see itself as a Virginia entity even though both airports are in the state, even to the point of keeping that mailing addresses for BOTH airoports as DC address (I worked for the parking contractor at Dulles several years ago–my phone had a 202 area code and my mail was sent to a DC sip code even though I was in Virginia). Sorry I wasn’t more clear.
Did they ever do anything about that little “loophole” where if you had a gun (or, presumably, a knife) in your car, if you were pulled over on 28 you could be charged with possession of a weapon on airport property?
There was a bit of press about that a couple of years ago and I don’t know what the resolution, if any, was. Seems to me that if 28 is airport property than the airport (MWAA) ought to take care of it instead of VDOT.
Here it is, a press release:
http://www.metwashairports.com/news_publications/newsroom/press_releases/airports_authority_to_2
he Authority’s current regulation (which was adopted in 1987 when the Airports were transferred from the federal government to the regional authority) does not allow anyone to bring on Authority property dangerous weapons unless the person is authorized by federal law to carry a weapon aboard an airplane, or the weapon is deactivated and properly checked as baggage promptly upon arrival at the Airport, or it is properly packaged for shipment by air or by a freight company. The regulation applies everywhere on Airport property, including the Dulles Access Highway and the Dulles Toll Road, Virginia Route 28 and Virginia Route 606. (Metropolitan Washington Airports Regulation §8.4.)
Isn’t that a bit excessive. Many drive with weapons on Route 28.