Four proposed Metrorail stations in Tysons Corner, Va., will remain above-ground, according to Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine of Virginia.
The stations are part of the Dulles Corridor Rapid Transit Project, often referred to as the silver line. The line would link several areas in Virginia's Fairfax and Loudoun counties to the rest of the Metrorail system. Proposed stations on the extension include an underground station that would be directly linked to the main terminal of Dulles International Airport, four stations in Tysons Corner and stations in Reston, Herndon and eastern areas of Loudoun County.
The proposed line would connect into the orange line west of the East Falls Church station and would share all stations with it and the blue line before terminating at Stadium-Armory. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) and Fairfax Connection bus routes already serve most of the areas that the silver line would link.
Kaine announced his decision Sept. 6 after meeting with officials at the Federal Transportation Administration; Virginia Reps. Frank Wolf, Tom Davis and Jim Moran; and Virginia Sens. George Allen and John Warner.
"We carefully reviewed the tunnel option at Tysons, and I share the belief of many of our project partners that a tunnel alignment would be the best option," he said in a press release. "However, too many unanswered questions remain about cost and timing. These uncertainties cannot be allowed to jeopardize this critical project."
The construction timeline for the project, which is expected to reach Tysons Corner in 2011 and Dulles in 2015, became uncertain after Virginia officials ordered a new study on the possibility of running the proposed line underground for a four-mile stretch through Tysons Corner. A previous study had concluded that it would be too costly to run the line underground, and instead recommended the entire line be run on elevated and at-grade level, according to The Washington Post.
The American Society of Civil Engineers, which helped conduct the new study, concluded it would be economically feasible to put the line underground through Tysons Corner based on new tunneling technology. The new technology, which was used on a number of rapid transit projects in Europe, placed two lines of track on top of the other rather than side-to-side, according to Metro spokeswoman Candace Smith.
While WMATA had suggested the new tunneling technology as one of several options for routing the line through Tysons, the agency did not support one option over another, Smith said.
"We support the governor's decision because we want to move the project forward," she said.
The silver line could impact AU students' travel and shopping habits, according to some students.
Lindsay Gibbs, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences, said she would use Metrorail to travel from Dulles to AU.
"I would purposely fly into Dulles just so I could use the Metro to get back to AU," she said. "I hate to call cabs. Sometimes they don't arrive on time, and they can be expensive. Metro's a lot more reliable, and a lot cheaper, too."
According to WMATA, approximately 18 percent of people flying out of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport use the Metrorail system to get to the airport.
