Washington Post Editorial: The Risk of Relying on Higher Dulles Toll Road Revenue

"THE EXTENSION of Metrorail to Dulles International Airport and beyond, underway in Fairfax County, is one of the biggest public infrastructure projects in America. The venture is vital to this region’s economic development. But at a cost pegged at $6 billion — almost double the estimated price tag in 2004 — it is also generating increasing sticker shock.

"That shock is now giving way to political vertigo and pushback, not least because most of the project’s overall cost will fall on commuters who rely on the Dulles Toll Road. Tolls paid by drivers on the road are expected to bear 56 percent of the cost of the extension, which is known as Metro’s Silver Line. Phase II of the project, which will run from Reston through the airport into Loudoun County, relies on tolls for 75 percent of its $3.5 billion cost."

Read the complete Post editorial.

  For the latest Loudoun County traffic news and information, subscribe to Loudoun County Traffic via your favorite RSS reader, or get Loudoun County Traffic by e-mail.