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Dulles Toll Road/Dulles Airport Access Road

Started by mightyace, July 13, 2009, 06:15:28 PM

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mightyace

According to this article on TollRoadNews, there is a plan to increase tolls on the Dulles Toll Road to fund the long-proposed Metro heavy-rail (a.k.a. subway) line running in the middle of or parallel to the toll road and the airport access highway.

DC airports outfit to hike tolls 80% on Dulles Toll Road to fund metro rail line
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I'm out of this F***KING PLACE!


Chris

So, why shouldn't the actual users of that rail pay for a change? Man you guys sound like Europe  X-(

mightyace

My Flickr Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mightyace

I'm out of this F***KING PLACE!

74/171FAN

Sort of related but the General Assembly wants to stop people from using the free Dulles Airport Access Road to cheat on not having to pay tolls by turning around at the airport.  However, I still believe that people will either caught for actually going to the airport to drop someone off or get around it by using other roads in the airport to access Ariane Way(according to Google Maps) to access SR 606 and VA 28 http://tollroadsnews.com/node/4605
I am now a PennDOT employee.  My opinions/views do not necessarily reflect the opinions/views of PennDOT.

froggie

The move is already illegal.  What this proposes is a photo enforcement system...

Truvelo

I agree with the comment in the tollroadnews link about levying tolls on airport users which means everyone pays the toll. The other advantage is it will put a stop to people turning round at the airport.
Speed limits limit life

mightyace

Quote from: Truvelo on February 16, 2010, 05:37:17 PM
I agree with the comment in the tollroadnews link about levying tolls on airport users which means everyone pays the toll. The other advantage is it will put a stop to people turning round at the airport.

And, airport users would still get the benefit of freer flowing traffic due to reduced entry/exit points.

Somehow, I don't think the system will work well trying to decide who's quick trip is a shunpike maneuver and who's is an actually quick pick up/drop off.
My Flickr Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mightyace

I'm out of this F***KING PLACE!

MikeTheActuary

If there's an uproar over tolling folks going to the airport, perhaps that toll could be offset with an equivalent credit at airport parking.

froggie

If I recall correctly, there's something in state or federal law requiring the access road to be free for airport users.  This make sense since it was the FAA who built the road.  This is why the access road was not tolled when the DTR was built to begin with (back in the early '80s).

cpzilliacus

Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

cpzilliacus

WTOP Radio: Tolls rise on Dulles Toll Road

QuoteThe Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority's board on Wednesday voted to high tolls on the Dulles Toll Road in 2013 and 2014.

QuoteThe cost will go up, starting Jan. 1.

QuoteThe tolls will go from the current $2.25 toll to $2.75 next year and to $3.50 in 2014.

TOLLROADSnews: Dulles Toll Road toll hikes confirmed 22% Jan 1 2013, 27% 2014 for train subsidy, 2015 deferred while non-toll $s hunted

Quote2012-11-14: Struggling to finance $3.02 billion of its $5.6 billion rail line with toll revenue bonds the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) decided today to put firmly in place two years of toll increases but to defer a decision on recommended increases in the third year.  Tolls for the typical trip in a car on the 13.4 mile tollroad in the western part of the Washington DC metro area will rise from $2.25 to $2.75 (22%) January 1 2013 and to $3.50 (27%) Jan 1 2014.

QuoteA decision on a toll increase recommended for the start of 2015 was deferred so the Authority can troll for non-toll sources of revenue for its rail project. An increase in the typical toll to $4.50 or 29% was recommended.
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

cpzilliacus

Washington Post: Dulles Airport celebrates 50th anniversary

QuoteIt was a cold, drizzly day in November 1962 when President John F. Kennedy led the opening of Dulles International Airport.

QuoteAn Air Force pipe band played a graceful program of four songs. The president hailed a new age in air travel. Dulles was billed as an airport for the jet age at a time when most fliers traveled by prop and turboprop planes.

QuoteThis month, that band was back together again – part of the 50th anniversary celebration of the airport. At least four of the men who performed on that overcast day five decades ago played again at a gala dinner and later for passengers and visitors to Dulles. They were a bit slower and a bit grayer but still sharp.
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

bsmart

I thought the toll free status of the access road was written into the Federal law that created the airport

cpzilliacus

Quote from: bsmart on November 25, 2012, 08:43:21 AM
I thought the toll free status of the access road was written into the Federal law that created the airport

I think the MWAA Board of Directors could impose a toll on Airport Access Road drivers if it wanted to.  It has been discussed in the past, but I have never heard of any federal restriction.
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

cpzilliacus

Leesburg Today: SCC Taking Comments On Proposed Greenway Toll Hike

QuoteThe State Corporation Commission has opened the public comment period on the request by the owners of Dulles Greenway to raise the tolls on the 14-mile highway that runs from Rt. 28 to Leesburg.

QuoteToll Road Investors Partnership II (TRIP II) last month filed an application seeking a 3.54 percent increase in all toll rates. For a 2-axle vehicle, the increase equates to 14-cents. However, the company states that the actual posted toll will increase by 10 cents, from $4 to $4.10, according to the SCC.
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

1995hoo

Quote from: cpzilliacus on December 05, 2012, 12:13:33 PM
Leesburg Today: SCC Taking Comments On Proposed Greenway Toll Hike

QuoteThe State Corporation Commission has opened the public comment period on the request by the owners of Dulles Greenway to raise the tolls on the 14-mile highway that runs from Rt. 28 to Leesburg.

QuoteToll Road Investors Partnership II (TRIP II) last month filed an application seeking a 3.54 percent increase in all toll rates. For a 2-axle vehicle, the increase equates to 14-cents. However, the company states that the actual posted toll will increase by 10 cents, from $4 to $4.10, according to the SCC.

I want to see all the people who whine about so-called "Lexus Lanes" on the Beltway show up to complain about the Greenway being the "Rolls-Royce Roadway" in view of its significantly higher toll.

Incidentally, that $4.00 toll rate is the off-peak rate. At rush hour it's higher.
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

cpzilliacus

Quote from: 1995hoo on December 05, 2012, 12:19:48 PM
I want to see all the people who whine about so-called "Lexus Lanes" on the Beltway show up to complain about the Greenway being the "Rolls-Royce Roadway" in view of its significantly higher toll.

Incidentally, that $4.00 toll rate is the off-peak rate. At rush hour it's higher.

Correct and agreed on all points.

And to add insult to injury, westbound patrons exiting the Dulles Greenway at Va. 606 (Old Ox Road, Exit 8, about 2 miles) pay exactly the same tolls as those driving all the way to U.S. 15/Va. 7 (Leesburg Bypass, Exit 1, about 13 miles). The cost to pass the main Greenway barrier and exit at Va. 606 is about  50¢ per mile (assumes a $4 toll).  Going all the way to Exit 1 is about 31¢ per mile. 

As a point of comparison with another "expensive" Virginia toll facility, the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel charges a one-way toll of $12.  That works out to about 60¢ per mile (and the southbound toll plaza on the Northampton County side is set pretty far back from the entrance to the actual crossing, I am including that in my computation), though there is only one way in and one way out of the CBBT (added bonus: the CBBT is one of the coolest toll crossings on the globe).

Another comparison - the mid-day and weekend toll on the InterCounty Connector is about $3.20 for the entire length of what is open now, just over 16 miles of tolled highway (a little shorter if you enter from I-95 southbound because of the interchange configuration).   That works out to a per-mile midday charge of about 20¢. The ICC peak period charge works out to about 25¢ per mile.

Speaking personally, I usually drive the entire length of the Greenway, so it does not bother me, but for those that exit anywhere before Exit 1, the current toll structure is quite unfair.  In a perfect world, the owners of the Greenway would transition to distance-based tolling for E-ZPass patrons only (it would buy them a lot of goodwill), but they would have to install E-Z pass readers on gantries on all of the ramps where there are no readers and no toll equipment of any kind now.
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

1995hoo

No kidding. To me, exiting westbound at Old Ox Road is insane and I can't really fathom why anyone would do it. It's sort of like going through the Delaware Turnpike toll plaza, except that avoiding the Delaware toll takes longer and requires going further out of your way than avoiding the Greenway toll plaza does. If I wanted to go from the original Toll Road to westbound Old Ox, I'd exit at Route 28 and then exit from there onto Old Ox.

I almost always drive the full length of the Greenway as well. I think I exited at Ashburn once en route to Brambleton Golf Course, and I know I've exited at Belmont Ridge Road en route to Lansdowne.
"You know, you never have a guaranteed spot until you have a spot guaranteed."
—Olaf Kolzig, as quoted in the Washington Times on March 28, 2003,
commenting on the Capitals clinching a playoff spot.

"That sounded stupid, didn't it?"
—Kolzig, to the same reporter a few seconds later.

Takumi

When we went on the Greenway last summer, we got off on Old Ox Road because that's where the place we were heading was located, and we followed the host (who, incidentally, drove a Gallardo convertible, so a $4 toll means less to him than to a bunch of twentysomethings from an area with much cheaper tolls) to get there. Obviously, we didn't take VA 267 back.
Quote from: Rothman on July 15, 2021, 07:52:59 AM
Olive Garden must be stopped.  I must stop them.

Don't @ me. Seriously.

cpzilliacus

Washington Post: D.C. airport authority employment is frequently a family affair

QuoteMeet the Kulle family: mom Helen, daughter Ann Kulle-Helms, son-in-law Douglas Helms, son Albert, daughter-in-law Michele Kulle and Michele's brother, Jeffrey Thacker.

QuoteThey all worked for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority. All at the same time.

QuoteThey are among scores of MWAA employees and board members whose spouses, children, in-laws and other relatives have landed jobs at the agency, according to authority records.
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

cpzilliacus

Leesburg Today: SCC Orders Greenway Owner To Respond To Delegate's Complaint

QuoteThe road to higher tolls is going to be a little bumpier for the owners of the Dulles Greenway.

QuoteTuesday, the State Corporation Commission--the body that will make the decision on the Greenway's proposed toll increase--ordered that Toll Road Investors Partnership II respond to a complaint made by Del. David Ramadan (R-87) earlier this month. TRIP II will have until Dec. 19 to respond, and the SCC will not continue the review of TRIP II's proposal until the response is filed.

QuoteRamadan filed a complaint with the SCC Dec. 4 asking for the commission to "ensure that the Greenway's toll rate for two-axle vehicles conform to the [Virginia State Code] regulation that tolls may not 'materially discourage use of the roadway by the public.'"
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

cpzilliacus

WTOP Radio: Toll rates on Dulles Toll Road to rise

QuoteThe cost of a one-way trip on the Dulles Toll Road will rise by 50 cents starting Jan. 1.

QuoteThe higher tolls will help pay for Metrorail's $6 billion expansion to Washington Dulles Airport.
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

cpzilliacus

WTOP Radio: Latest Dulles Toll Road tax hike fueling renewed protest

QuoteThe latest toll hike on the Dulles Toll Road, which took effect New Year's Day, may have rekindled the protest over how the new Silver Line is being financed.

QuoteThe tolls went up 25 cents to $1.75 at the main toll plaza, and a larger hike is scheduled for the next two years.

QuoteNoTOLLincrease.org, a citizens group that has been fighting the tolls for months, is now circulating a petition asking the state to consider two other alternatives to the tolls.
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

cpzilliacus

D.C. Examiner:  Virginia lawmakers consider buying Greenway, backing Dulles Toll Road debt

QuoteVirginia lawmakers are considering creative and potentially expensive ways to keep tolls low on two roads they don't control: the Dulles Greenway and the Dulles Toll Road.

QuoteState leaders are now negotiating to buy the privately owned Greenway, a toll road west of Washington Dulles International Airport. And the General Assembly is considering legislation that would allow the state to borrow money through a bond issue to pay for the road's purchase and upkeep.

Quote"I have to be able to negotiate an acceptable deal in terms of what we pay for it," said Del. Joe May, R-Leesburg, who is leading the push to buy the road. "I'm optimistic we're going to find a deal that works for both sides."
Opinions expressed here on AAROADS are strictly personal and mine alone, and do not reflect policies or positions of MWCOG, NCRTPB or their member federal, state, county and municipal governments or any other agency.

mc78andrew

Quote from: cpzilliacus on January 14, 2013, 12:40:41 PM
D.C. Examiner:  Virginia lawmakers consider buying Greenway, backing Dulles Toll Road debt

QuoteVirginia lawmakers are considering creative and potentially expensive ways to keep tolls low on two roads they don't control: the Dulles Greenway and the Dulles Toll Road.

QuoteState leaders are now negotiating to buy the privately owned Greenway, a toll road west of Washington Dulles International Airport. And the General Assembly is considering legislation that would allow the state to borrow money through a bond issue to pay for the road's purchase and upkeep.

Quote"I have to be able to negotiate an acceptable deal in terms of what we pay for it," said Del. Joe May, R-Leesburg, who is leading the push to buy the road. "I'm optimistic we're going to find a deal that works for both sides."

Wow...talk about windfall for bondholders. Virginia still has a AAA credit rating (one notch higher than Uncle Sam). 



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