The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) announced today they’ve begun the procurement process to select a contractor for Phase Two of rail to Dulles.

“This is an important milestone for the project to extent Metrorail to Dulles Airport and Loudoun County,” the authority said in a statement.

MWAA, a public-private organization charged with overseeing the Reagan and Dulles airports, the Dulles toll roads and the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project construction, has issued a Request for Qualifications Information (RFQI) to solicit qualifications statements from potential bidders on the 11.5 mile extension from Wiehle Avenue westward through Dulles Airport to Route 772 in eastern Loudoun County.

Patrick Nowakowski, executive director of the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project said in prepared remarks, “We are grateful to our project partners in the federal government, the state of Virginia, Fairfax and Loudoun counties who have helped keep this project moving forward. We will conduct a process to select a highly qualified team to design and build Phase 2 in the most cost-effective manner.”

The RFQI has been posted at MWAA’s website at http://www.mwaa.com/5015.htm.

Statements of Qualifications will be gathered from prospective bidders and a “short list” of no more than five teams will be developed. Next, a Request for Proposals (RFP) seeking both technical and price proposals will be issued to the short-listed teams. The contract will then be awarded to the team that meets the technical requirements and has the lowest price.

It is currently estimated that a contract could be awarded as soon as late spring 2013 and construction of Phase Two could be completed approximately five years after the contract is awarded.

Rail to Dulles passed a major hurdle July 3 when the Loudoun Board of Supervisors voted 5-4 to remain a funding partner in the roughly $5.5 billion project.

-Trevor Baratko