Five Bid for Silver Line Phase 2 Contract

Contractors estimate costs of $1.1 to more than $1.3 billion.

Five contractors - including Reston-based Bechtel - have entered bids to construct Phase 2 of Metro's Silver Line, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority announced Friday.  The bids ranged from $1.1 to $1.3 billion. Phase 2 is the 11.4-mile segment of the Silver Line that will run from Reston's Wiehle Avenue to Dulles International Airport and into Ashburn, Phase 1 of the Silver Line, from Tysons Corner  to Wiehle Avenue, is nearly completed and scheduled to open in December. MWAA said Friday the award of the Phase 2 contract will occur after a review to validate that each proposal properly responds to the solicitation.  “Today is a significant step toward the selection of the design-build contractor for Phase 2,” Pat Nowakowski, …

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Final Silver Line Timetable Has Rail on Track

Phase 1 of new rail line expected to be turned over for testing and training in August.

Metro's Silver Line Phase 1 is 86 percent complete and on schedule for delivery by the end of August, says Pat Nowakowski, Executive Director of the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project. Nowakowski gave an analysis at last week's Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority meeting. MWAA is not giving an exact date that Phase 1 of the Silver Line — which will run from Tysons Corner to Reston's Wiehle Avenue — will open, but is sticking with a general date of December 2013 for now, MWAA spokesman Rob Yingling said. Some of the highlights of Nowakowski's presentation: * Final Design – All design is complete. One permit needs to be secured. * Metro has paid out $2.255 billion so far. The final cost is expected to be $2,905,695,000. There is $81 …

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Dulles Toll Road Rates Rise Again Tuesday

As scheduled, tolls on the on/off ramps and at main plaza to rise by 25 cents.

The cost of driving on the Dulles Toll Road is about to rise again on Tuesday. Beginning Jan. 1, the toll rate on the Dulles Toll Road will increase by 25 cents at the Main Toll Plaza to $1.75.  Toll rates on the on/off ramps will increase by 25 cents to $1. These amounts were previously set in a November hearing, but the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority deferred making a decision on tolls for 2015. There will be an additional increase in January 2014 to $2.50 at the main plaza. The toll increases are necessary, in part, for the Airports Authority to operate and maintain the Dulles Toll Road and to construct the Metrorail Silver Line, which will begin operating in Dec. 2013. While Phase 1 of the Silver Line is being built with $…

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Airport Holiday Travel Tips from MWAA

Information, websites and more that can help you get through the airport.

With the holidays comes holiday traveling and Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority has tips for customers traveling through Dulles International and Reagan National airports.  “We advise our customers to plan ahead and arrive early during peak times this holiday season,” said Jack Potter, MWAA President and CEO in a press release. “We are committed to providing an excellent, welcoming experience to all travelers who come to our airports — especially at this time of the year.” This year the Transportation Security Administration introduced TSAPre✓, a dedicated security checkpoint for passengers who are approved for expedited screening. Approved passengers don't have to remove their shoes, belts, laptops or 311 compliant bags from …

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Silver Line May Cost More Than Expected

Turnaround on Maryland end could cost Metro an additional $4.5 million year.

MWAA OKs More Toll Hikes for 2013, '14

Revenue necessary if Silver Line Phase 2 is going to be built, Airports Authority says.

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority board voted Wednesday to raise fees on the Dulles Toll Road through 2014, but held off on raising rates for 2015. As expected, starting Jan. 1, 2013, drivers will pay 25 cents more at the main toll plaza and at on/off ramps for a total of $2.75. In 2014, the rates will rise to $3.50. But the board put off approving an increase for 2015, in hopes of securing alternative sources of funding.  In deciding not to set 2015 toll rates, the board noted that the potential for low cost financing afforded by a TIFIA loan, combined with the potential for additional financial assistance from the Commonwealth and possibly other sources, along with the potential for a competitively priced Phase 2 Silver Line…

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Portion of McLean Metro Footbridge to be Installed Monday Night

A second part of the pedestrian footbridge to the McLean metro station is scheduled to be installed on Monday night. Temporary road closures on Route 123 are planned.

Drivers are being asked to avoid certain parts of Route 123 in McLean on Monday night as the Metropolitian Washington Airports Authority oversees the installation of a second portion of a pedestrian footbridge at the McLean metro station. The station, part of the new silver line, is still under construction and is not expected to open for more than a year. It is located at the intersection of Route 123 and Scott Crossing Road/Colshire Drive. "The bridge work will require six intermittent 5 to 20-minute full closures of Route 123 north and south, as well as some closings of Old Meadow Road/Capital One Drive and Colshire Drive/Scotts Crossing Road," MWAA advises in a press release. All lanes are expected to be open by 5 a.m. Tuesday.

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Dulles Advisory Committee to Issue Toll Hike Opinion

Advisory group to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority will discuss proposed rate increases, financing

As questions over Dulles toll increases and Silver Line funding continue, the Dulles Corridor Advisory Committee (DCAC) — which advises the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority on the Dulles Corridor — is preparing to give its own opinion on the issues. The group will meet at 11 a.m. Oct. 5 in Herndon to hear updates about finance and construction of the Silver Line metrorail project, and also make recommendations on proposed toll rate hikes. The committee, formed in 2007, has eight members: two each from Loudoun and Fairfax Counties, the Commonwealth of Virginia and the airports authority. Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chair Sharon Bulova is serving as chair of the committee; County Executive Ed Long also serves on the …

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Bob Bruhns

6:10 pm on Sunday, September 23, 2012

People need to understand that the plan is to increase these tolls for about thirty years. The general plan for the past year has been that they will rise to about $6.75 in 2012 dollars, and continue to increase in future dollars to keep up with inflation. The plan is this: (prices are for 2-axle vehicles such as typical cars) (Present) $2.25 January 2013: $2.75 January 2014: $3.50 January 2015…   more ›

Governor, MWAA's Martire Reach Settlement

MWAA board member will no longer battle spending ouster and will resign instead.

Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell announced Wednesday that the Commonwealth and the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority have reached a settlement with Dennis Martire, the former MWAA Board Member who was was fighting his removal from the group for questionable spending. “Today, the Commonwealth of Virginia, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority and former board member Dennis Martire reached agreement on the terms of a settlement that put to an end the months of unnecessary and costly litigation between the parties regarding my decision to remove Martire for cause as a board member of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority," McDonnell said in a statement. "The full MWAA board considered and approved the terms of the …

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Bob Bruhns

9:57 am on Monday, October 1, 2012

These and other very questionable MWAA practices appear to have added up to several million dollars of inappropriate fund allocations. Not good!!! But don't let that blind you to the multi-Billion dollar inappropriate fund allocations that appear to be present in Dulles Rail Phase I and Phase II. Our leaders and media talk about a million or two; why do they not SCREAM about several Billion …   more ›

Letter: AAA Opposed to MWAA's Toll Plans

"It was a rotten formula at the start whose stench only gets worse with each passing year and the skyrocketing tolls that come with it."

With another increasingly expensive round of toll fee hikes in the offing for users of the Dulles Toll Road, according to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA), AAA Mid-Atlantic wants to reiterate clearly and loudly its opposition. We understand that someone has to pay for the $6 billion cost of the construction of the Silver Line, but the overriding question in our mind is just who that should be. At last check, local motorists, via their tolls, are being forced to shoulder nearly 60% of the costs of this project. The Commonwealth of Virginia, until pushed hard by the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood, had no cash in the pot—it sole contribution was to be the tolls paid by motorists. Now, after LaHood’s arm …

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Bob Bruhns

12:30 pm on Saturday, September 22, 2012

People need to look at the prices in the Silver Line job. We get multi-Billion dollar total numbers, and no detail - and then people who are hiding their identities behind pen-names, tell us that those prices are normal. But that is a lie - those prices are most definitely NOT normal. They are two times the normal prices, and not surprisingly the price of the overall job is close to two times …   more ›