Fairfax County Approves Dulles Rail

FAIRFAX, Va. - The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved funding Monday for the first half of a rail extension to Dulles International Airport, despite misgivings about the project's design.

The vote was 8-to-2.

The first phase of the project will extend Metro's orange line 11.6 miles from the East Falls Church station through Fairfax County's busy Tysons Corner section and on to Reston.

The supervisors have expressed disappointment with the elevated design for the rail extension and said they would have preferred to put the section going through Tysons Corner underground. Critics of the elevated design say the construction will cause more traffic disruption and will hamper plans to transform Tysons into a pedestrian-friendly, urban hub.

But state officials said it was too late to change the project's design without jeopardizing an expected $900 million in federal funding.

In a statement Monday, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine praised the Fairfax supervisors for their decision, calling the project "long-awaited and critically important."

The cost of the first phase is estimated in the range of $2.4 billion to $2.7 billion. It is to be paid for with revenue from a special tax district around Tysons and tolls collected on the Dulles Toll Road, along with the federal funds.