Neal Augenstein, wtop.com
WASHINGTON – The cost to ride the Dulles Toll Road will likely increase 50 cents per trip, starting Jan. 1.
A just-released Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Board report recommends raising the current $2.25 toll to $2.75 next year, $3.50 in 2014, and $4.50 in 2015 to help pay for the construction of Metro’s Silver Line.
If approved, tolls would increase by 25 cents at the main toll plaza and 25 cents on the entrance or exit ramps of the road that runs from the Capital Beltway to Dulles International Airport.
Tolls from the Dulles Toll Road are expected to make up approximately 75 percent of the cost of extending the Silver Line from Wiehle Avenue to Dulles International Airport and into Loudoun County.
The report paraphrases public comments and concerns.
Among the concerns: “A toll rate increase will not improve traffic, and neither will the addition of the new Metrorail line. The rate increase will cause many DTR users to take alternative routes.”
The report includes public concern about the fairness of the toll increase: “People who use the DTR, including residents and businesses of Fairfax and Loudoun counties, should not be required to contribute substantially to the construction of the Metrorail Project, which will benefit people throughout the metropolitan area who will contribute nothing.”
The final vote on toll increases will be in November, and would take effect Jan. 1.
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