A Northern Virginia congressman said he expects the price proposal for the first half of the Dulles rail to be “way over budget,” part of a flurry of speculation on closely guarded negotiations between contractors and airports officials.
Jim Moran, D-District 8, told a crowd in Vienna on Saturday that one of the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project contractors, Bechtel, has “delayed their submission of cost estimates by several weeks.”
Bechtel Infrastructure and Washington Group International are now in negotiations with the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority and Virginia to design and build the first phase of the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project. The first half of the 23-mile rail extension would run from west Falls Church to Wiehle Avenue.
“My guess is that when they come in with their estimate, it is going to be way over budget,” the congressman said.
Said Bechtel spokesman Howard Menaker: “I don’t know what basis the congressman would have to conjecture on the price, as it is still one of the items being negotiated.”
Exactly how much the firms — togetherknown as Dulles Transit Partners — are offering to build the rail is tightly held by MWAA, an interstate agency that operates Dulles International and Reagan National Airports and serves as the lead negotiator. Airports authority spokeswoman Tara Hamilton said the groups have already delivered their estimate, but would not otherwise comment.
MWAA, which claims exemption from state and federal records disclosure laws, has refused to articulate their expected timeline for the completed negotiations, something the commonwealth has openly offered. Metrorail project spokeswoman Marcia McAllister said they expect a finalized negotiated price by the end of February.
Dulles Transit Partners, if negotiations are successful, would reach its contract through a public-private partnership, not through sealed bidding. The nature of this agreement has emerged as one of the most controversial topics in the entire $4 billion Metrorail expansion, with critics blasting it as “no bid” and officials defending it as competitive.
Fairfax County Supervisor Dana Kauffman, one of the most vocal critics of the state’s handling of the rail project, said he hopes “the state realizes that [Dulles Transit Partners] has been stringing them along and is more concerned about their profit than the project.” He also urged “that this project will be put to bid as it should have been from the start.”
