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Toll Meeting Brings Out Crowd |
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Written by Leslie Perales, Observer Staff Writer
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Friday, 11 September 2009 |
| A larger crowd attended the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority's third and final public hearing on toll increases for the Dulles Toll Road Wednesday night. |
| The open-house format meeting was held at South Lakes High School in Reston and nearly 70 people came by during the first two hours of the meeting. MWAA plans to increase the rates at on and off ramps by 25 cents and increase the toll at the mainline plaza by 25 cents each year for three consecutive years. |
| Outside Porky the Dulles Rail Pig wore a sign that read "Join the Dulles Corridor tea party! End tolls forever!" About a half dozen supporters of the Dulles Corridor Users Group stood near the curb with signs protesting the cost of the rail and providing information to those attending MWAA's hearing. Chris Walker, who heads up the group, filed a lawsuit against the Dulles Metrorail project last month in federal court. |
| Jan Viands, a Reston resident for 20 years said that when the tolls were last raised on the Dulles Toll Road in 2005 she stopped using it. "We were promised that the tolls would end when the road was paid for," she said. "They shouldn't penalize people in this area to pay for that road." Viands said the entire state should be responsible for the cost of the Metro's extension to the Dulles Airport. |
| Local resident Jeff Quisenberry said he attended the meeting because he wanted to learn more about the funding for the Metro's new Silver Line. He said he is a big user of public transportation and he is concerned because the nation has gotten used to being able to put things on credit. "When you get things you need to pay for them," he said. |
| Ben Dworkin, an Arlington resident who works in Herndon, said he is also concerned about the possibility of rising tolls and funding the Silver Line. He said he supports the Metro's extension to the airport but is worried the increase in tolls could cost him up to an additional $500 each year. He said he will be paying higher tolls for a project he may never see the benefits of if he moves out of the area before the project is finished. |
| When asked about the possibility of future toll increases Jennifer Mitchell, deputy project director for MWAA, said it is likely that after the increases that are planned through 2012 there could be another increase between 2018 and 2019. After that the tolls will only rise with the rate of inflation, she said. |
| Chief Financial Officer Lynn Hampton said MWAA is studying the possibility of discount rates for EZPass customers and toll rates that depend on the volume of traffic. She said they are only ideas but they are being looked into. |
| DCUG supporters at the meeting provided information from MWAA's recent bond prospectus that lists projected tolls at more than $11 for a one-way drive from I-495 into Herndon. Hampton said the rates the group is using did come from an MWAA study but are not the rates MWAA plans to set. |
| Hampton said the study calculated the toll rates that MWAA could set while still making revenue and not driving traffic away entirely. She said in the study engineers took the value of time into consideration and what people will pay to save time commuting. She assured attendees at the meeting that MWAA will only charge what it needs to in order to cover the costs of the rail project. |
| Tara Hamilton, public affairs manager for MWAA, said the study was needed to show those purchasing bonds to finance the project that the costs of the bonds could be covered. She said the study was part of a rigorous financial analysis to prove that MWAA could pay off the bonds. |
| After speaking to MWAA representatives at the meeting Thomas Roberts of Sterling said he is still concerned with whether or not the project will cut down on his commute time but thinks it will bring more value to the area. He said he would like to see better enforcement of high-occupancy vehicle lanes as well. "The funding all makes sense," he said. "It's not as fanatical as people make it out to seem." |
| MWAA will still be taking public input on the proposal to increase toll rates through Monday. |
| Visit MWAA.com/TollRoad for more information and to fill out a public comment form. |
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