Photo by jamietre.

This morning, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority voted to discard plans to build an underground Metro station at the terminal, instead endorsing a plan put forward by U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood which includes an above-ground station. The board voted 11-1 to approve the LaHood plan, which will also save several million dollars in construction costs.

The LaHood plan was crafted after several Virginia leaders raised concerns about the rising costs of the 23-mile rail extension to the airport. The association had voted in April to approve an underground station, despite the additional cost.

Under the LaHood plan, the financial burden of building the $3.5 billion second phase of the extension will be spread across local, state and regional investors, including Metro and users of the Dulles Toll Road. D.C. Mayor Vince Gray recently offered his support for the above-ground option put forward by LaHood.

The new plan places the Metro station near Daily Parking Garage No. 1, which would mean riders would have to use a moving sidewalk across the airport’s hourly parking lot to access the main terminal. The underground option would have been located much closer to the airport.