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Court to Hear Toll Road Challenge

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By Bill Turque

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

The Virginia Supreme Court has agreed to reconsider a legal challenge to the state’s decision to transfer management of the Dulles Toll Road to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.

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The transfer is crucial to the state’s plans to extend Metrorail to Dulles International Airport. Under the arrangement, the airports authority would oversee the $5.1 billion construction project, using revenue from the toll road to help pay for it.

The challenge, led by Richmond lawyer Patrick M. McSweeney, questioned the state’s authority to transfer taxing power to a non-state entity governed by representatives not only of Virginia but also of Maryland and the District. McSweeney argued that using toll receipts for purposes other than road maintenance constituted a tax, which the authority cannot impose without General Assembly approval.

A panel of the court ruled in September that the authority was acting within its power. But on Friday, the court granted McSweeney’s motion for a rehearing.

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