I’m generating remarkably little response for my commentary on what amounts to the most important executive decision made by Gov. Timothy M. Kaine in his young administration: the decision to give the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority significant control over the Dulles Toll Road and the Rail-to-Dulles Metro extension. But readership be damned. Some things just need writing about.
In a post made yesterday, I characterized the Kaine administration’s response to Speaker William J. Howell’s criticisms of the “Dulles Toll Road Giveaway Plan” as saying, in effect, “Trust us, we know what we’re doing.” The administration’s responses to that point did not address the substance of Howell’s charges.
Today, Kevin Hall from the Governor’s press office, has responded with substantive comments. (For those who need a refresher on the Speaker’s charges, you can read the press release here, and a transcript of the press conference here.) I post Hall’s comments here verbatim, without commentary:
1. A comprehensive review of the PPTA proposals and the MWAA proposal was conducted, and the MWAA proposal presented the most value for Virginia – by far. The MWAA proposal will support $4 billion in transportation improvements in the Dulles Corridor. The MWAA proposal was the only one that guaranteed completion of the rail project to Dulles Airport and Loudoun County.
2. The agreement does not stop private sector competition. To the contrary, it specifically requires MWAA to consider private sector proposals for HOT lanes and other highway congestion management strategies. The agreement establishes rail as the first priority in the corridor, consistent with the 30-year vision of the region.
3. The agreement guarantees that the entire rail extension will be constructed, and will accelerate completion of the entire project all the way to the Airport and Loudoun County. Virginia and MWAA share the primary goal of ensuring mobility in the Dulles Corridor. And the agreement does not vest land use authority with MWAA. That authority remains solely with the localities.
4. All of the four private sector plans included cash payments for the rail project. The MWAA proposal represented by far the largest financial contribution to the Metrorail project. But I would suggest the region does not need “cash on the table”– it needs improvements on the ground. The private sector highway proposals may
very well have merit, but these will require considerable time to evaluate to determine if they meet state and federal planning criteria. On a project of this magnitude, every year of delay equates to at least $100 million in additional cost due to inflation and increasing construction costs alone.5. On the toll issue, it is important to note that the private sector proposals also would require toll increases. I would suggest that MWAA is a known quantity in Northern Virginia, operating and rebuilding two major aiports and the Dulles Access Road, as well as providing free right-of-way for the Dulles Toll Road. They have been instrumental in numerous regional mobility initiatives since their inception nearly two decades ago – bringing the blue line to National Airport and opening the Dulles Access Road to transit providers.
6. Opportunties for additional federal most definitely were not “abandoned.” Federal funding for the 2nd phase of this project has never been guaranteed.
7. We look forward to providing additional information to the members of the General Assembly. Many of the legislators in the corridor, from both parties, wrote to endorse the proposal. All of the legislators from the corridor, as well as members of Congress from the region, joined the Governor at the press conference to announce the agreement.
8. As for Delegate Albo’s suggestion that Virginia look to a recent toll-road concession agreement in Indiana, I would merely say the MWAA agreement will result in $4 billion in transportation improvements in the Dulles Corridor. The Indiana agreement, for example, only returns 34% of the revenue to the corridor in which it is generated. Governor Kaine opposes using toll road revenues from the Dulles corridor to support projects in other parts of the Commonwealth.
9. Virginia is a recognized national leader in public private partnerships and employs nationally renowned advisors to help evaluate complex proposals of this nature. Our record on PPTAs and the business merits of this proposal speak for themselves. Each PPTA-type proposal is different and needs to be considered on its own merits.
Now we have some substantive statements to dig into. Comments anyone?
