Uh, Oh, Estimates are Escalating for Metro Rail Extension

This from the Associated Press:

FAIRFAX, Va. -- Engineering companies developing the plan to extend Metrorail through Tysons Corner say the project will likely cost $2.4 million, 60 percent more than the previous estimate and far above the price reached in a carefully negotiated financing agreement. ...

Northern Virginia's government and civic leaders have made the project a top priority for the congested region. The project eventually would run 23 miles from west Falls Church through Dulles International Airport, but planners have split it into two phases, the first through Tysons.

Under the financing plan for the Tysons portion, which previously had been estimated to cost $1.5 billion, about half the money would come from the federal government, about one-quarter from Dulles Toll Road collections and other state revenue, and about one-quarter from commercial property owners along the train route, who have agreed to pay a special real estate tax.