Rail to Tyson's Corner and Dulles! Finally!

So it looks like contstruction of the Dulles Rail line is finally going to happen.

Alot of people I respect, such as the people over at Raising Kaine, are upset about this for two reasons.... 1) This is a blow to advocates of a tunnel through Tyson's Corner and 2) Bechtel got a ginormous contract out of the deal.

Quite frankly, Raising Kaine is dead wrong on this one.

Look, the train needs to be built. Soon. I am a huge advocate of public transportation, and for Tyson's Corner, I'm more or less in favor of whatever gets it done fast.

If anyone thinks this was going to be done without they type of contract Bechtel got, they're kidding themselves. I haven't leafed through the contract or anything, but some company was bound to get rich off this. If it wasn't Bechtel, it would be someone else.

As for the tunnel, I have some sympathy, but the tunnel was going to be EXPENSIVE. The above ground train isn't exactly cheap either, but it will be cheaper in the long run, and quite frankly, what's the big deal about an above ground train?

I've lived in the East Falls Church neighborhood for 5 years, a neighborhood featuring an above ground train. The train is no eyesore. It also looks fine in places like Alexandria. Sure I'd be opposed to, say, an above ground train running to the Capitol along the National Mall. But this is Tyson's freaking Corner we're talking about.

Tyson's Corner is not exactly a visual wonder. It's basically a bunch of malls, strip malls, office buildings, car dealerships, etc. An above ground train couldn't possibly make it less attractive. Not only that, no one is ever outside in Tyson's Corner except when they're walking from their car to a building or vice versa.

The other visual feature of Tyson's Corner is traffic. Lots and lots of traffic. That's something we can do something about. So let's build above ground rail and alleviate some of the traffic. Who's with me?