A proposal by Supervisor Stevens Miller (D-Dulles) on March 16 to move the proposed location of the Route 606 Metrorail station several hundred feet to the west was defeated.

The 3-6 vote against the proposal means the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority can proceed with the original plan to build the station near the Route 606 and Dulles Greenway intersection.

Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio (R-Sterling) and Chairman Scott York (I-at large) also voted for Miller’s request to move the station west.

The board has worked for a year with MWAA and nearby property owners to identify the location that would best capitalize on private development and local tax revenue.

Loudoun County must pay $252 million to construct its portion of the Metrorail Silver Line, which will be covered by local business tax revenues.

MWAA officials estimated moving the station to the west would cost Loudoun County an additional $20 million to $40 million. That money would pay for widening the Dulles Greenway bridge over the Broad Run, realignment of the Greenway and the installation of a second set of turnstiles.

MWAA officials also said it would cost an extra $1 million a year to operate the additional entrance.

The design of the current location includes one station entrance on the north side of the Dulles Greenway and one pedestrian bridge.

Miller said he felt the board was being pushed by MWAA to choose the option it prefers rather than what works best for Loudoun County.
“We had a representative of MWAA tell us last time we were here that if we pick something other than what is in the currently proposed location and add them costs then we get the bill,” Miller said. “But we were asked for our vision, and it’s our call, apparently as long as our call is their call.”

Relocating the Metrorail station further to the west would have allowed the county to maximize on economic development and local tax revenue, in part because more amenities could have been built there, supporters of the move said.

Supervisor Jim Burton (I-Blue Ridge) said he couldn’t support moving the station because he feared it would burden taxpayers. He also said moving the station is not necessary since property near the originally proposed location also can be developed.

“Certainly this motion will not reduce the costs, it will increase the costs,” he said. “How much we don’t know for sure, but it would definitely change the cost, and Loudoun taxpayers will bear the burden of covering those additional costs.”