Fiscal Woes Leave Va. Transit Projects to Languish

THE DULLES METRORAIL PROJECT. The expansion of Route 1 in Prince William County. Improvements to Route 7 in Falls Church and Fairfax County. All are major transportation projects that state and local officials are scrambling to salvage after they hit a series of financial roadblocks.

A report by Eric M. Weiss in today's Post details how a state Supreme Court ruling that nixed a main source of transit funding, the downturn in the economy and other factors have routed the commonwealth's transportation agenda.

The court ruled last month that the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority, created by the state government to plot out and raise money for the area's transportation agenda, was not legally allowed to collect taxes and fees to fund those projects. Now, Weiss reports, the panel is trying to figure out how to refund the $12 million it took in this year — money that planners had expected to supplemented state transit funding for the region.

Writes Weiss:

Even if state and local planners are able to reverse the slide, the month of bad news has caused massive delays that will put some of the major projects at the end of the funding line. The delays also have made costs rise, forcing officials to find new funding during a time of tight budgets.

Rendering courtesy Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project