 Dear Friends, Virginians, citizens of Fairfax: The General Assembly is now in full swing. The Committee meetings and votes are coming fast and furiously. Contested floor votes are happening every day. I am trying to keep a daily diary at www.oxroadsouth.com. Please feel free to visit the site and post comments (positive or negative). Of course, face-to-face contact is critical. We are holding community meetings as follows: Saturday, February 2nd at 10 a.m. at Fairfax City Hall. I am with Delegate Bulova Saturday, February 2nd at 1:30 p.m. at Vienna Town Hall. I am with Delegate Shannon. Please come and hear our update. Share your thoughts. We will provide coffee and snacks. Now the real news... Despite all the action down here, the focus of drama the past few days has been in Washington, D.C. As you are likely aware, the head of FTA issued an opinion on February 24th which graded the Tysons Rail project as "medium-low" in terms of cost-effectiveness and financial capitalization. That opinion is not the absolute death sentence for Tysons Rail. But it's pretty close. It is clear that the project as currently proposed cannot succeed. There has been a lot of controversy with Tysons Rail. It has had many critics, including me, who believed that the aerial design and sole-source contract were flawed. In fact, one of my first acts as a State Senator was to write a letter asking for those issues to be addressed. Despite those misgivings, I want to thank Governor Kaine for his strenuous efforts in the last few days to try and keep FTA as a partner in this initiative. As a delegation, we supported him in his personal appeals, even those of us who were "pro-tunnel" advocates. Without FTA support, it is highly unlikely that any rail project will be built in our lifetime. And building rail in the Dulles corridor remains a major priority for all who represent Fairfax County. That's the history. The real question is where do we go from here? I believe that we need to re-engage the public on this project. We also need to re-open the process for alternative designs. I don't minimize the financial loss and delay that we face from having to review the project. But we are facing those losses regardless. A new Federal administration may be more friendly to public transit. Hopefully so. But we need to do our part in Virginia to solve the current challenges which have raised both agency concerns and community opposition. It's got to start here. In closing, there are no "winners" from the FTA rejection. Many people had a vision for this project and worked hard to see it successful.On the other hand, the actual details of that vision badly divided the community and failed to gain FTA approval. That fact cannot be ignored. I look forward to hearing from you on this and other crucial issues. I hope you can make it February 2nd to our public meetings. During the session, you can reach us at (804) 786-3591 or you can email us at chap@fairfaxsenator.com. Let us know how we can represent you better. Sincerely,
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