Commuters on the Dulles Toll Road will likely be funding more than half of the projected cost of the expansion of the western Fairfax portions of the Metro system over the next 45 years, according to officials from the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority. Plans call for tolls to be raised 25 cents over the next three years at the main toll booth and 25 cents in the next year at on and off toll booths.
Meanwhile, daily commuters can hear constant alarm bells ringing as some motorists whiz through the toll plazas without paying, and they worry about their safety as cheaters pull up to their bumpers to try to pass through the plazas on their quarters. State officials, however, maintain that toll violations are not a major problem.
The Virginia Department of Transportation implemented a vehicle enforcement system in January 2007, according to Cyndi Ward, director of Dulles Toll Road for the airports authority.
Until that point, violations were at a rate of 2 percent, according to Ms. Ward, who will take over operations of the eight-lane, 16-mile commuter highway on Oct. 1. Since the system has been in place, Ms. Ward said, violations have gone down to less than 1 percent. Joan Morris of VDOT confirmed that statistic.
Still, a small number of residents turned up at the second of three public hearings about the proposed toll increases, held at McLean High School on Thursday. The open-house forum was held with court reporters so residents could make comments about the proposal. As required under airports authority regulations, a similar process will be held each time the toll is raised, said spokeswoman Tara Hamilton.
The expansion of the Metrorail system and improvements to Dulles Toll Road are projected to cost $2.5 billion, with 52.7 percent of the funding coming from the toll road.
In addition, Mrs. Hamilton said $963 million has been obtained from the bonds market. The airports authority was granted $78 million in federal stimulus money for the project, which is part of the $900 million that already had been approved. Money scheduled to be allocated in 2016 would instead be made available this year under the plan. The project is in the first of two phases.
Mrs. Hamilton said that under the authority’s projections, the project would be paid off in 2054. She compared the long-term plan to taking out a mortgage on a home.
Some residents have expressed concern that the project relies too heavily on toll-road users for funding, but Mrs. Hamilton has stressed that the money will be reinvested into the Northern Virginia area.
Chris Walker, a commercial property owner in Reston, filed a federal lawsuit earlier this month challenging the use of toll revenue, the Washington Examiner reported.
The point at which Interstate 66 merges with the Dulles Toll Road is the worst bottleneck in the region. Typical congestion there is 31 hours per week at 13 miles per hour, according to a recently released Inrix study.
Pat Nowakowski, executive director of the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project, said he expects the project to help ease traffic within the Tysons Corner area.
“Some of those people that drive in right now would use the rail to get in,” he said.
Mr. Nowakowski said he also thinks the Metro extension will make Washington Dulles International Airport competitive with Baltimore Washington Thurgood Marshall International Airport for international flights when public transportation becomes available at the Virginia airport, while Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington would still dominate in terms of shuttle flights to major cities, popular with businesspeople and members of Congress.
“BWI rests on the northeast corridor, so rail service [would] put us on an even playing field with that airport,” Mr. Nowakowski said.
Stephan G. Smith, airports authority deputy vice president for engineering, said commuters can expect to see changes to the corridor for immediate needs beginning next year, including new road signs and a higher level of maintenance.
“It’s what we call ’R and R’ — repair and replace,” Mr. Smith said.
“It’s like when you move into a new apartment, the first thing you do is scrub the walls and paint them,” he said.
Some Dulles Toll Road commuters have also voiced concern about confusion entering and immediately exiting the gates where lanes are unmarked and where inattentive or inconsiderate drivers cause accidents.
As for safety at the toll plazas, which are congested especially during commuter hours, Mr. Smith’s team also will be evaluating the placement of EZ-Pass lanes to avoid cars switching lanes at the last moment, which can cause traffic to back up at toll gates.
• Ryan J. Reilly is a freelance journalist and photographer living in Arlington.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.