The first phase of the $7 billion Dulles rail project may not be “on budget, on time,” as officials from the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority have claimed.
Members of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors’ Audit Committee is questioning the t authority’s claim, saying that construction may be as much as 188 days behind schedule.
A July MWAA report stated that the project’s contractor, Dulles Transit Partners, has a “significant shortfall in achieving planned start and finish dates, project-wide” and predicted the project would finish more than six months behind schedule. But MWAA has not updated its official schedule, which has the rail line opening for business in 2013.
MWAA and Dulles Transit Partners are also sparring on the completion date for the West Falls Church Yard, Fairfax auditors reported. MWAA expects the yard to be finished by July 31, 2013, but the contractors say it won’t be done until January 2014.
“It’s really disagreement over how long it’s going to take to do certain tasks,” auditor Michael Longhi told the commiteee.
Auditors also noted that though construction of the first phase is only 47 percent complete, about 72 percent of the project’s $297.7 million contingency fund has already been spent.
