John Matthews
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON– (WMAL) A Metro board member representing D.C. is pushing the transit agency to scrub the $5.8 billion dollar expansion of the Silver line into Loudoun County in an apparent bid to pressure Virginia to put up more money for Metro.
The proposal from board member Corbett Price comes as the District and the suburbs squabble over several issues at Metro, including disputes over the creation of a permanent regional funding source, and D.C.’s insistance on the restoration of late-night service.
Price said under the current funding climate that Metro can’t afford to continue to expand, and that if Northern Virginia wants the Silver Line, it should find a way to pay for it itself.
“Based on my analysis, we ought to look at forgoing the Silver Line,” Price told the Washington Post. “How can you continue to expand when you’re currently in a deficit situation and the expansion project is going to put you further into deficit?”
Virginia officials immediately rejected Price’s proposal, saying the project is far too far along to cancel, and claiming the cost of breaking contracts and fighting off inevitable lawsuits might eat up any savings that canceling the project would create.
Metro is not paying for the Silver Line extension. More than 70 percent of the cost is being generated by drivers on the Dulles Toll Road, with the rest financed through a combination of federal, state and local funds raised in part through special taxing districts.
But money – specifically, the lack of a dedicated source of funding to pay for Metro’s upkeep – has plagued the agency for decades, and neither Virginia nor Maryland has shown the political will to join DC in creating a regional tax or other mechanism to generate revenue.
Officials from both states say they will not throw more money at Metro until the agency can demonstrate it is making progress with current repair projects and that the system itself has competent management going forward.
Price says he’ll may make his proposal to shut down the Silver Line project as soon as Thursday, when the Board of Directors meets.
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