Officials: Dulles rail costs to escalate again

Washington, D.C. (Map, News) - The cost of the rail extension to Dulles Airport will increase by as much as $6 million a month while the Federal Transit Administration weighs whether to approve the project, Virginia and Airports Authority officials said Monday. The price for the first half of the 23-mile rail project - now projected to be about $2.64 billion - will begin rising again Wednesday due to a provision in the design and construction contract with Bechtel Infrastructure and Washington Group International. Under a complex formula, the cost will increase each day until the FTA approves the project for final design.

"If this deadline is not met - and it appears unlikely that it will be - the effects on project costs could be significant," a report last week from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Office of Inspector General said.

The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which is managing the Dulles rail project, has asked the FTA to approve an agreement that would hold off the Aug. 1 cost escalation, MWAA spokeswoman Tara Hamilton said.

Virginia Transportation Secretary Pierce Homer said delays would increase the price tag by $3 million to $6 million each month.

The FTA is weighing whether to commit $900 million to the first phase. Next month, the agency is expected to release the results of two separate reviews of the project that will determine whether the project is eligible for that money.

Homer said he still expects that cost-cutting measures and quick action on the rail project will be enough to qualify the project for crucial federal funds, despite an audit last week that said the price tag might be too high to meet federal criteria.

He said project officials are exploring design changes to trim the price tag for the initial 11.6-mile phase, which carries the rail from west Falls Church to Reston. Also crucial, Homer said, is moving the project along swiftly.

"Time is money," Homer said. "In any large public works construction project, it's delay and the inevitable inflationary costs that really hurt you in the long run."

wflook@dcexaminer.com

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