Fairfax Board Moves Ahead with Columbia Pike Streetcar Agreement

The Arlington County Board approved its portion of the agreement on July 16, a deal that stipulates Arlington will pay for 80.4 percent of conceptual design work, while Fairfax will pay for the remaining 19.6 percent.

That slight tweak to the payment formula angered some streetcar opponents, who argued at a public hearing that if the project must go forward, Fairfax County should pay more based on the potential economic development benefits it could reap in the Skyline/Bailey's Crossroads area.

“This is economic development to me, this isn’t just transportation,” Fairfax County Supervisor Cathy Hudgins said. “This is providing the kind of neighborhood that young people, most importantly today, want to be in — where things can happen, where you can get to places, where you don’t sit around in traffic.”

But others thought it was a less practical, more expensive option when better ones were available.

Republican Supervisor Pat Herrity, who voted against the agreement with fellow Republican Supervisor Michael Frey, said the streetcar was too slow and lacked flexibility.

“I think it’s a worse solution,” he said. “It is a fixed system that goes fixed places at an average of just over 10 miles an hour.”

Smyth abstained from voting on the agreement because her husband owns property in the area.

The 5-mile light rail line will connect Pentagon City in Arlington to the Skyline area of Fairfax County.

The latest move updates a past agreement and only covers the $999,131 for the environmental planning and design.

Arlington County has projected the transit system will cost $250 million, though a federal review of the project — one that ended up with the project not getting an anticipated shot of millions of dollars in federal funding — determined it could cost an estimated $255 million to $410 million.

The Federal Transit Administration stated the "most likely" cost would be $310 million, to which Arlington quickly responded that it updates cost estimates as the project moves along, plans are hammered out and actual costs can be considered.

Arlington County officials have said they might continue to pursue federal funding or perhaps tap into a new transportation-specific sales tax in Northern Virginia authorized by Gov. Bob McDonnell's signature transportation bill this year.

The next phase of the streetcar project includes design of an operations and maintenance facility and design of the Skyline Station.