Va. lawmaker wants Congress to wade into fight over DC Metro expansion to Dulles airport

By Keith Laing - 04/30/12 04:36 PM ET

A Virginia Republican has introduced legislation to create an inspector general to oversee the agency in his state that is overseeing a proposed expansion of Washington, D.C.'s MetroRail to Dulles International Airport.

Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) said Monday that his bill (H.R. 5322) would bring accountability to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA), which is building the railway to Dulles that would be operated by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA).

The first phase of the 23-mile extension, intended to connect Dulles airport to the capital city's downtown, is under construction and scheduled to open in 2013. But local officials are feuding over the funding for the second phase of the line, which is planned to stop at Dulles.

Wolf said Monday that his bill, which would allow the Transportation secretary to appoint and oversee an inspector general for the airport authority, would bring order back to the controversial Northern Virginia project.

"The continued growth of the Dulles corridor demands that this project be successful," Wolf said in a statement.

This isn't the first time federal officials have taken an interested in the Dulles rail project, which has been named the Silver Line by WMATA. A $900 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration was used to pay for the first phase of construction of the railway, and last year, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood negotiated a resolution to a rift between local leaders to keep the proposal to build the second half of the line on track again.

LaHood is scheduled to meet with Virginia officials again about the project soon, according to a recent report from The Washington Post.

LaHood has called it one of the most important public transit projects in the country.

"This project comes at a pivotal point as the Obama Administration begins to make vast improvements to our nation's top transit systems," LaHood said in a statement when the initial grant for the project was announced.

"It will create construction jobs, encourage economic development opportunities, and help Tysons Corner become a more livable community," LaHood continued.