WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Jim Webb and Mark R. Warner today announced that the U.S. Department of Transportation will release $77.3 million through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to accelerate work on Northern Virginia’s Dulles Corridor Metrorail extension. The Federal Transit Administration has already entered into a multi-year funding grant agreement for the Dulles Rail project, and the grant announced today does not increase that federal commitment but will expedite the release of the federal funding.

In all, the Transportation Department announced $742.5 million in stimulus funds for transit projects in nine states. The arrival of federal funds will allow transit agencies to save on financing costs while putting additional dollars into the local economy allow for a quicker investment in the project.

 “Today’s $77.3 million investment brings Northern Virginians one step closer to a crucial Metrorail extension that will relieve congestion, improve quality of life and foster sustained economic growth in the region,” said Senator Jim Webb. “I have said consistently that stimulus funds devoted to infrastructure development will benefit the Commonwealth most—putting people to work and at the same time benefiting the nation’s capital needs.”

“This represents a smart use of stimulus funds to speed-up a project that represents the very definition of ‘shovel-ready,’” Senator Warner said. “These funds will allow our Dulles Rail partners to move more quickly to put people to work on a project that will help boost the national capital region’s  primary airport as well as the Dulles technology corridor.”

On March 10, 2009,  U.S Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood signed a formal agreement to provide $900 million in funding for the project – the third largest public transit project in U.S. history. The Dulles corridor is home to 2,300 companies employing 250,000 people.