By Peter Whoriskey
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, May 22, 2005; C04
Since the recent proposal to nearly double the workforce at Fort Belvoir, Fairfax County lawmakers have been talking up the idea of extending Metrorail tracks to the military post. But planners have yet to resolve who would pay for the construction and where the extension would run. One idea, which Metro has studied since at least 1999, would extend the Blue Line from the Franconia-Springfield Station and run it south along the CSX railroad tracks and the Fairfax County Parkway to the post. Some options would swing the line west to serve the post's Engineering Proving Ground as well. Estimated costs, depending on the type of trains and number of stations, run from $600 million to $800 million. Another idea would extend the Yellow Line from the Huntington Station down Route 1 to the post. No estimates have been made on costs for that option. When county and Virginia Department of Transportation planners recently studied roadway needs in the Route 1 corridor, they concluded that "what was needed was not more asphalt but a transit link tied to the Huntington Metrorail station to serve the community and the job center of Fort Belvoir," said T. Dana Kauffman (D-Lee), the Metro board chairman and a member of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. The flurry of Metro ideas for southeastern Fairfax follows a national military realignment proposal that would expand the workforce at Fort Belvoir from about 22,000 to about 40,000. Those figures include military personnel and contractors. "That is the largest single new job creation in the history of the county," said Fairfax board Chairman Gerald E. Connolly (D). "It is an enormous decision with enormous implications." "The good news," Kauffman said, "is that we've secured the economic fortunes of southeastern Fairfax County for years to come." Bad news, however, may lie in the possibility that the new traffic in and out of the post would choke already overburdened roads. The added congestion could be "the straw that breaks the camel's back," Kauffman said. For that reason, local elected leaders hope to persuade the federal government to make a significant contribution toward a Metro extension, which could handle the increase in commuter traffic. Connolly, Kauffman and others made the argument last week that the federal government has an obligation to help the county handle the impacts of its military realignment. Connolly said he'd spoken with U.S. Sen. John W. Warner (R), Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R) and Rep. James P. Moran Jr. (D), all of Virginia, about the prospects of federal funding. "I think that we're agreed that when the federal government decides to dump 18,000 new employees on one place, they have some obligation to help address the traffic impacts," Connolly said. "It's not acceptable for the federal government to say it's up to you how to absorb it." Kauffman said he supports building both extensions -- from Huntington and from Franconia-Springfield. "To make it work, you'd need both," he said last week. But county officials' case for federal dollars is complicated by the fact that they are seeking federal funding for half of a $1.5 billion Metrorail extension through Tysons Corner, a line they'd ultimately like to get to Dulles International Airport. Some leaders seemed less than optimistic about extending the lines soon but said it was important to start planning now. "Eventually it has to happen," Moran said. "But I think it could be many years down the pike. I would expect that after we complete rail to Dulles that that would be next on the agenda for Northern Virginia."