Redstate

Tim Kaine and the Washington Metro Transit Authority unite to screw over the taxpayers in this Examiner editorial:

Dulles Rail will not reduce traffic in Northern Virginia, as the project’s own environmental studies attest. It will actually increase congestion in and around Tysons, thanks to higher densities approved by the Fairfax Board of Supervisors in connection with the project. It’s no exaggeration to say Tysons Corner will suffer perpetual gridlock once the Dulles Rail and its parallel developments are completed. Every tax dollar spent on Dulles Rail is a tax dollar that should have been used to reduce congestion on the Washington region’s roads.

Half of the $200 million in “cost reductions” the FTA cited to make the Dulles Rail project qualify for federal funding are no more than removing — for now — planned improvements to Route 7, whose median will be used for the concrete elevated tracks. But Route 7 is already at a virtual standstill even without any new construction or added density. These essential road improvements will be tacked on later when the project is past the point of no return, and they will be more expensive for the Fairfax County taxpayers now conveniently on the hook for the inevitable cost overruns. Indeed, the longer the project drags on, the higher the ultimate cost of completion will be, and it will be borne mostly by local taxpayers and commuters.