Virginia Governor Timothy M. Keane decided in September

Virginia Governor Timothy M. Keane decided in September that the state will request federal support for construction of an elevated Metro rail line through Tysons Corner rather than push for a four-mile rail tunnel through the Virginia “edge city.” Keane said there were “too many unanswered questions” about the cost and timing of a commuter rail tunnel, so he chose a mostly elevated route, which stands a better chance of gaining Federal Transit Administration approval. Stewart Schwartz, executive director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, argued that an elevated line would make it harder to refashion Tysons Corner into a walkable development and would make it more difficult to attract enough riders to commuter rail.