To the Editor:
Several weeks ago, I mentioned some of the most pressing reasons why a new Metro Station should not be built in Potomac Yard. Since that time, additional reasons have surfaced. Twenty Metro managers have been fired, a large number of station shutdowns have been scheduled for high level maintenance fixes, and funding shortfalls are looming beyond our ability to pay.
First, the 2008 agreement that Metro made with the Federal Government to split $300 million annually between the Feds and the local municipalities will disappear in 2020. In addition, $500 million a year is needed to make sure that there is no repeat of our maintenance shortcomings 10 years from now. Finally, it will take an additional $6 billion to return the tracks to an a-one status. Currently, the City of Alexandria picks up 4.7 percent as its share of the Metro annual costs, but WMATA is going to need much more from Alexandria and other participating jurisdictions in order to become well-functioning again. This will be an additional cost to Alexandria taxpayers, and will add to an already serious fiscal situation.
Another Metro station is not in the best interest of our 150,000 residents, since it is not affordable, it is unfair, and it is not absolutely necessary. Yet, City Council continues to press on with these Metro plans. Moreover, they intend to keep the tax penalties on citizens living in the two special tax districts. Before the election, there was some “pillow talk” of repealing those special tax districts, but with a one-party Council (and no real representation for the people in the form of wards), there is no reason to turn this provision around. It seems to me that the Metro Stop is an unjust and unwise move by a City Council that is not reading the tea leaves.
Townsend A. “Van” Van Fleet
Alexandria