Silver Line Tunnel Meeting -- Honest Discussion or Thick PR - Bet on the Latter
Wednesday evening (11/15) at 7 pm, the ad hoc tysonstunnel.org is holding a community meeting on its last-ditch effort to resurrect a tunnel for the Silver Line at Tysons Corner. The big question in my mind is: Whether the meeting will be an honest discussion of the complicated issues associated with the construction of heavy rail or whether it will be thick with PR?
At one level, it is impossible to disagree with Scott Monnett, McLean Chamber chief, who is pushing the tunnel. A tunnel would be more aesthetically pleasing than the ugly old elevated track. A tunnel would also last longer and could present fewer traffic nightmares during construction. But those factors do not address the more important questions: Why are we spending billions on the Silver Line without receiving traffic congestion relief? Will the added costs for constructing a tunnel kill federal funding because the project would clearly fail the mandatory cost/benefit test? Given the huge inflation in construction costs, just what would it cost to build the Silver Line with or without the tunnel? Who will pay for the added costs to build the tunnel, along with the certain future cost overruns?
I doubt that those questions will be addressed. That's not the Fairfax County way. What a shame!
We need honest and thorough answers, not more PR. We need to see data, not hear from lobbyists. I don't expect much from this meeting beyond PR spin. If you have other things to do on Wednesday evening, do them, rather than attend the tysonstunnel.org meeting.
At one level, it is impossible to disagree with Scott Monnett, McLean Chamber chief, who is pushing the tunnel. A tunnel would be more aesthetically pleasing than the ugly old elevated track. A tunnel would also last longer and could present fewer traffic nightmares during construction. But those factors do not address the more important questions: Why are we spending billions on the Silver Line without receiving traffic congestion relief? Will the added costs for constructing a tunnel kill federal funding because the project would clearly fail the mandatory cost/benefit test? Given the huge inflation in construction costs, just what would it cost to build the Silver Line with or without the tunnel? Who will pay for the added costs to build the tunnel, along with the certain future cost overruns?
I doubt that those questions will be addressed. That's not the Fairfax County way. What a shame!
We need honest and thorough answers, not more PR. We need to see data, not hear from lobbyists. I don't expect much from this meeting beyond PR spin. If you have other things to do on Wednesday evening, do them, rather than attend the tysonstunnel.org meeting.
posted by Toomanytaxes at 7:10 AM
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