Opponents of an elevated rail line through Tysons Corner have sued the U.S. Department of Transportation, contending that the agency violated federal law by failing to seriously consider the idea of placing the track underground.
"Elevated-Line Foes Sue U.S." - Washington Post
Are.you.kidding.me…?!! :twitch:
Good lord, these Tysons Tunnel people will stop at nothing to get their precious tunnel built!
Don't get me wrong, I'd much rather have an underground metrorail going through Tysons, but it ain't gonna happen - and with this lawsuit, the whole project may not happen, either. The tunnel is preferred by many people who live/work in the Tysons Corner area, Though the Fairfax Board of Supervisors voted 8-2 against it - and for good reason!
However, this lawsuit stymies the overall goal - to lessen traffic and provide a viable means of public transportation to the ever-growing Fairfax/Loudoun counties… plus give us po' folk who have to fly out of Dulles a way to get there without having to take 3 different bus lines. (Just kidding about the po' part… plane tickets from Dulles are frequently more expensive for me than ones out of National. Go figure.)
Anyway. To say the lawsuit doesn't have merit would be to label myself as one of those people who thought the Halliburton contracts were "perfectly fine!" I find the news about the no-bid contracts a little disturbing, yes, but let's face it - the more monkey wrenches thrown into this metrorail extension development process, the less likely it's actually going to get done. Annnnnd, from what I've read - there are some allowances when it comes to non-competitive bidding:
Granted, #1 states that "that the Government would be seriously injured unless the agency is permitted to limit the number of sources from which it solicits bids or proposals." That's a little exaggerated, but if anyone has ever sat through the clusterf*** that is Route 7 during rush hour, they may think differently in that building this extension IS an urgent matter to be addressed. And #2 is self explanatory.
The second part of the lawsuit, has to do with the actual tunnel itself:
Tysons Tunnel and Ratner allege that DOT violated the National Environmental Policy Act by failing to carefully evaluate the proposal for a tunnel, especially in light of new "large bore" tunnel-building technology. They say the new techniques, which use machines that can build tunnels wide enough to accommodate two tracks, would have fewer adverse environmental impacts than an elevated line and reduce the cost.
Uh huh. I noticed they failed to mention that digging a tunnel would preclude us from receiving a TON of money from the government (nearly $1 billion) to subsidize the project. The tunnel project "may" cost less to build, but honestly, I doubt it would. So, the longer this project sits, waiting to be implemented, the more likely it is that we'll lose that money… and, as a result, the entire extension project will probably die. I honestly would rather deal with a little traffic diversion from building the above-ground rail than be stuck in decades more gridlock on the roads due to a no-longer viable project.
Squish the lawsuit and let's build this rail before I succumb to road rage and have to be institutionalized. (Kidding.) Seriously, I think enough is enough, and the Tunnel advocates need to accept their defeat and allow for the expansion to actually be implemented… eventually, it'll make life easier on all of us.
