Tolls Set to Rise on Dulles Greenway
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Originally published at 12:54 p.m., September 12, 2007
Updated at 9:15 p.m., September 12, 2007
Virginia officials approved more toll increases yesterday for the Dulles Greenway, ensuring that travel on the pricey highway will become more expensive in the next five years.
For people who live or work in Loudoun County, the increase will mean paying up to $10 a day to save time by taking the Greenway, which links Dulles International Airport and the Dulles Toll Road to Leesburg and other communities.
Under the plan approved by the State Corporation Commission, the company that owns the Greenway can gradually raise the toll from the current round-trip fare of $6 and charge extra during rush hours. By 2012, a round-trip journey on the 14-mile highway could cost $9.60.
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The new rules go into effect Oct. 1, when the highway’s owner, Toll Road Investors Partnership II, plans to charge tolls for trucks with more than two axles. Currently, such trucks pay a flat rate of $5.40. Under the new structure, the rate will be based on the number of axles, with six-axle vehicles paying $9.45 one way.
Most commuters won’t see a toll increase until January 2009, when the company will be permitted to start charging $3.40 one way most of the time and $4 in peak directions during rush hours. In 2010, one-way tolls could go up to $3.70 most of the day and $4.50 during rush hours. In 2012, the fare could rise to $4 most of the day and $4.80 at rush hours.
When the Greenway opened in 1995, it was envisioned as a luxurious alternative to side roads clogged with stop-and-go traffic such as Route 7. But as Loudoun’s population has blossomed, it has become an essential thoroughfare connecting dense neighborhoods in eastern Loudoun to job centers along the Dulles corridor and in Fairfax County and Tysons Corner.
In a 10-page order, the commission said that the increase could be a hardship for drivers who use the Greenway daily. But members said their hands were tied by the 1988 state law that authorized construction of the Greenway, the state’s first private highway to be built since the Civil War.
“Almost 20 years ago, the Commonwealth made a series of policy decisions that leave us little choice but to make the decision we make in this case,” the order said.
Under the law, Toll Road Investors Partnership II, which owns the road, is allowed to increase tolls under three conditions: if the new fee does not significantly discourage drivers from using the road, if the company does not make an undue profit from the higher charge and if the benefit of using the road matches its cost.
Tracy A. Woodward
Dulles Greenway tollbooths. (FILE PHOTO)
Nothing in the law stipulates that the toll has to be affordable for drivers, said U.S. Rep. Frank R. Wolf (R-Va.), who has been a leading opponent of the toll increases and has called for the state to take over the road.
“It was a flawed law, and the General Assembly did not do a very good job in the way it was drafted,” Wolf said yesterday. Officials with Toll Road Investors said yesterday that they are pleased with the state’s decision. The highway still offers drivers significant savings in time and wear-and-tear on their cars, equivalent to more than $6 a trip, company officials have said.
“We think that the tolls offer a fair value and benefit to motorists,” said Ann Huggins-Lawler, a spokeswoman for the partnership.
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I just won't use that part of the toll road. I will drive Route 7 and take the scenic route.
Posted by diana.crawford (anonymous) on September 12, 2007 at 4:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Yep, it's already a ridiculous price for such a short road. Not going to use it no matter how convenient it might be.
Posted by GentlemanFarmer (anonymous) on September 12, 2007 at 5:17 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I feel like Northern Virginia has been forsaken by the state government in this deal. From the beginning, the "Greedway" has been levying an extra "tax" from the residents of Northern Virginia every time they use this tiny stretch of road. Allowing the Greedway in the first place was just a cheap way for the state government to get out of paying for needed roads in the fastest developing part of the state. If they took the money generated from Northern Virginia's state taxes and put it back into Northern Virginia, there would be plenty of roads, and there never would have been a need to let these Greedway trolls have there way with Northern Virginia. Toll Road Investment Partership II can keep their road. I will never use it again.
Posted by jstafford (anonymous) on September 12, 2007 at 6:35 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Don't these idiots realize that as the toll rates increase the number of drivers using the Greenway will decrease? Great!! More traffic on Route 7...
Posted by djirv (anonymous) on September 12, 2007 at 6:40 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I'm glad Route 50 is being increased to 3 lanes in each direction from Rt 28 to Rt 606 in South Riding. We can starve the Greenway out of business.
Posted by kmccorma (anonymous) on September 12, 2007 at 6:54 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I'll continue to take the access road.
Posted by cer10death (anonymous) on September 12, 2007 at 8:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I love the Greenway - and don't mind paying the tolls one bit, if it means not sitting in ridiculous backups on Route 7.
Posted by jleete (anonymous) on September 12, 2007 at 9:02 p.m. (Suggest removal)
The biggest problem I have with the Greenway (or, for that matter, the Dulles Toll Road) is that the tolls are not distance-based. It's ridiculous to have to pay the same fare entering, for example, the westbound lanes at Route 28 and taking the first exit at Route 606 as you would if you traveled the entire distance from Route 28 to Leesburg. It's not that it can't be done. Just look at the NY State Throughway. Luckily, for me, I leave early for my job in Vienna. Route 7 is pretty clear at 5:45 AM...at least for now.
Posted by valawman (anonymous) on September 13, 2007 at 8:57 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Remember the Dulles Greenway next time someone implies that the private sector can do anything better than government can.
I only use the Greenway on weekends anyway. But I think my reaction to this toll increase, which is market-based, will be to stop giving Toll Road Investment Partnership II ANY of my business. They simply don't deserve it.
Posted by RussellWoolard (anonymous) on September 13, 2007 at 9:48 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I drive the Dulles toll road to get to work. I've stopped using the Greenway portion since so many lights have been removed from 28 but when I did use it, I often sat in rush hour backups. If I am going to sit in stalled traffic, I sure don't want to pay extra to do it! Might as well sit in stalled traffic on the regular roads that don't gouge your pocketbook. And as more and more houses get built along the Greenway, the congestion will worsen as the price goes up! Before long, it will be as bogged down as any other NoVa road.
Posted by TarynT (anonymous) on September 13, 2007 at 1:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Absolutely insane...I've had to take the Greenway a few times to work this week and it's been backed up from before Loudoun Cnty Parkway to the toll booth. Then it takes 15 more minutes to get from the booth to Rt. 28 South. Am I really going to pay for the pleasure of sitting in traffic? NO WAY. I can sit in traffic for free on every other road in Loudoun County. I'll be sending back my SmartTag.
Posted by jfjfjldff (anonymous) on September 13, 2007 at 11:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I am in shock that the toll is STILL going up. When I first moved to the area back in '90, I already thought the toll was an outrageous amount. I used to live in NY and was tolled to death. One reason I came to this area, I thought I'd get away from that and save a bit of money for my travels. Well, to my surprise I was out of luck. But at least back then, the toll wasn't so bad compared to my NY commute.
BUT, when I recently looked at the cost of the Greenway/Dulles toll road NOW compared to all the tolls in total that I took on my commute in NY (and would still do now if I were still there), do you know that it cost more HERE then NY round trip? AND, if this toll does go up the way it has been planned, by the end it will cost over three times as much then when I lived in NY. I may as well go back to NY and save money again.
Well, over the years I have found several alternative routes that may be heavier traffic, but it's better then spending the money I could use to put food in my children's mouths then in someone else's pockets for no real good reason that I can see.
I give up!!!!! NO MORE TOLL FOR ME!!!!!! I can spend the extra money on more milk for my family.
Posted by temp1000 (anonymous) on October 9, 2007 at 9:27 a.m. (Suggest removal)
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