$77 Million in New Stimulus Funds for Dulles Rail

WASHINGTON – Congressmen Gerry Connolly and Jim Moran announced today that the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has awarded $77.5 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding for the Rail to Dulles project. The move will result in a $15 million savings in overall project costs.

“Given the challenges of financing large-scale transportation projects, these proposals we are advancing to DOT on behalf of MWAA should be lauded for maximizing the use of limited federal funding and seeking to use public funds to create more jobs and not simply incur new debt,” Connolly said.  “Every dollar we get for the project now will continue to reduce the overall cost of the financing.”

“I’m pleased to see the DOT moving so quickly on such an important project to our region,” said Moran. “It says a lot about the Secretary LaHood’s leadership and the administration’s vision for public transit.”

The DOT funding does not increase the federal commitment to Dulles Rail, but the expedited funds will allow the project manager, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA), to save on financing costs while putting additional dollars into the Northern Virginia economy now.

In an April 30 letter to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, Connolly and Congressman Jim Moran requested that DOT accelerate the payout of already-committed funds for Dulles Rail, noting that millions of dollars in financing costs could be saved. 

In March, federal, state, and local officials signed the $900 million multi-year, full funding grant agreement with DOT’s Federal Transit Administration for Phase 1 of the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project

In their letter to LaHood, Connolly and Moran urged DOT to make a strategic infusion of funds from the Recovery Act for Dulles Rail to save money on Phase 1 of the project, bolster the economy, advance preliminary engineering on Phase 2, and create additional jobs now.

Every dollar in federal funding that is provided to the project now will help to reduce overall financing costs for the project.  Additional infusions of early dollars from the Recovery Act’s DOT New Starts funding or the Secretary’s discretional funds could end up saving as much as $750 million in financing costs for the project.

Overall, DOT today awarded $742.5 million in Recovery Act funds to pay for transit projects in nine states:  Virginia; New York; Arizona; California; Colorado; Oregon; Texas; Utah; and Washington state.

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