Dave Dildine, wtop.com
WASHINGTON – Singer-songwriter Angela Petry has a bone to pick with owners of the Dulles Greenway. The tolls, she says, are too high.
The privately owned, 14-mile-long divided highway in Loudoun County carries traffic between the Leesburg Bypass and the Dulles Toll Road near Route 28.
In her song “Highway Robbery” Petry sings, “Sending our money overseas. Making a mockery of you and me. Because it’s highway robbery.”
The mainline toll plaza collects $4.75 for a one-way trip during off-peak hours and $5.55 during rush hours for passenger vehicles. Eastbound off-ramps and westbound on-ramps host auxillary toll plazas that charge various tolls for travelers who are not traveling to or from the eastern end point near Dulles Airport.
“Our concern is also not just for our commute, but for the residents who live along the Greenway corridor,” says Petry, who lives in Morgan County, W. Va.
The video below, which features ABC7’s report, includes some of the song.
Here are the lyrics of the song:
Chorus:
Highway robbery
Sending our money overseas
Making a mockery of you and me
Because it’s highway robbery
They built a road in the countryside
Rolling green hills for milles and miles
The farms and the fields no factory
But don’t you dare think you can drive for free
Because it’s highway robbery
Fourteen miles and it’s nice and smooth
From Leesburg to Dulles you can really move
Drive everyday but you cry at night
Cause of the price of the toll is out of sight
The Commonwealth should stand up strong
Tell those Aussies they’re just plain wrong
Roll back the tolls or make it free
No more highway robbery
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