Projects Moving at a Crawl

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

A timeline of major transportation projects in Northern Virginia that have been stalled by recent developments.

Metrorail to Dulles

1964 -- The Federal Aviation Administration's master plan for Dulles International Airport recommends a transit line along the airport's access road.

1990 -- The Virginia transportation board adopts a program for the Dulles corridor that includes rail service.

1992 -- The General Assembly creates a state rail department to help bring rail to Dulles.

1994 -- Virginia and Metro officials initiate a study to evaluate rail options for the corridor.

1996 -- The completed study says heavy rail, such as Metro, would be the best transit option to the airport.

1997 -- The project team, including state, local and Metro officials, publishes a report rejecting an underground route through Tysons Corner because of costs.

2000 -- A federal environmental review of the rail line begins.

2002 -- The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, Metro and state officials endorse a mostly aboveground route through Tysons.

2004 -- The Federal Transit Administration approves preliminary engineering for the first phase between Falls Church and Reston. Fairfax County begins collecting a tax from commercial landowners in the Herndon area to pay for the rail line. A final environmental review concludes that rail would have minor adverse impacts.

2005 -- The FTA publishes a report for Congress recommending the Dulles extension.

2005 -- Virginia imposes toll increases on the Dulles Toll Road to help finance the project.

March 2006 -- The state and the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority sign an agreement transferring the project to the airports authority.

September 2006 -- Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) rejects a Tysons Corner tunnel.

November 2006 -- The FTA approves the final alignment for the elevated route through Tysons.

March 2007 -- Virginia transportation officials announce an agreement with a private contractor to begin construction of the rail extension, with an elevated segment through Tysons Corner.

June 6, 2007 -- The regional airports authority signs a contract starting the extension and calls for an aboveground segment through Tysons Corner.

June 18, 2007 -- Fairfax supervisors approve the county's $400 million share for the first phase of construction.

Jan. 18, 2008 -- Utility relocation begins along Route 7 in Tysons Corner.

Jan. 24, 2008 -- Federal transit officials tell state and local officials that the project faces "an extraordinarily large set of challenges" that jeopardize federal approval of a full-funding agreement for the project's first phase. A full-funding agreement is the federal government's commitment to help finance a transit project over several years.

Northern Virginia Transportation Authority

1990 -- Local leaders lobby for changes to statewide transportation formula because Northern Virginia has the worst traffic in state.

2001 -- General Assembly creates the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority but gives it only long-range planning authority.

2002 -- Referendum set on whether to increase the 4.5 percent sales tax by a half-cent to raise $5 billion over 20 years. The NVTA would spend the money. The measure fails.

April 2007 -- General Assembly passes law that gives NVTA members, who are mostly locally elected officials, the ability to pass seven tax and fee increases to raise $300 million a year for Northern Virginia roads and transit.

August 2007 -- Prominent anti-tax activists plan lawsuit to challenge constitutionality of NVTA raising taxes.

July 2007 -- NVTA members vote to increase taxes and fees and ask court to rule on constitutionality.

August 2007 -- Lawsuit filed by opponents.

August 2007 -- Arlington County Circuit Court judge upholds constitutionality of NVTA taxes.

February 2008 -- Virginia Supreme Court rules that the NVTA cannot constitutionally raise taxes.