| Double
Tolls, Double Trouble |
| OK Western Fairfaxers and Eastern Loudouners: Get ready
to have your pockets picked! |
| The state wants to increase the toll on the Dulles Toll
Road to $1 from the present 50 cents next year at the main
toll plaza. The reason: To pay $800 million to the $3.3 billion
price tag for rail to Dulles. The $800 million is Virginia's
share of the tab. |
| But that's not all. According to a financial analysis of
the Draft Environmental Impact Statment (DEIS) released last
week, the toll would increase to $2 by 2015. |
| According to the DEIS report, "...revenue generated
by the Dulles Toll Road would range from about $200 million
from refinancing only (no toll increases) to over $800 million
(requires a 50-cent toll increase in 2003 and additional 25-cent
increases every three years through 2015). A 25-cent toll
increase in 2003 and every three years through 2015 would
generate over $725 million in funding that could be available
for the Dulles Corridor Rapid Transit Project. These projected
toll increases would make the tolls for the Dulles Toll Road
comparable to the rates currently charged on the Dulles Greenway." |
| And don't forget, the Virginia Department of Transportation,
the nanny of the Dulles Toll Road, already has a surplus of
around $50 million collected from Toll Road users even after
all the toll road improvements have been paid for. |
| The DEIS report also states, "Surplus toll revenues
for FY 2002 are estimated by VDOT to total $12 million."
And that's in addition to the $50 million surplus gathering
interest in VDOT coffers. |
| In a story in last Sunday's Washington Post, Del. Vincent
F. Callahan Jr. (R-McLean-Great Falls), was quoted as saying,
"It was always anticipated that the state's share (of
rail to Dulles) would be paid for by tolls. I think the political
will is there to do it." |
| Maybe the "political will" is there, Del. Callahan,
but I doubt the "citizens' will" is there. |
| According to Del. Kenneth R. Plum (D-Reston) in a letter
to the editor in today's Observer, "The Dulles Corridor
Rail Project is managed by the Virginia Department of Rail
and Public Transportation and not VDOT. The project will be
financed by federal and state appropriations, a special tax
on commercial property in the corridor, and excess toll revenues." |
| However, VDOT does not control the toll road or the tolls.
That honor goes to the CTB. |
| There are so many things wrong with the idea that tolls
from the Dulles Toll Road, the only privately funded road
in Northern Virginia, will pay the entire $800 million state
share of rail, that it is hard to know where to begin to list
them all. |
| At the top of the list is that the plan is unfair to force
the motoristsĪnot only commuters but all motoristsĪfrom Herndon,
Reston and Eastern Loudoun to pay for rail to Dulles. Rail
will be used by many people, many, if not most of which have
never paid a toll. |
| Once the rail line is completed, it will leave the toll
road with its higher tolls to be paid for by the casual user,
such as those driving to Tysons, the District or for other
reasons, like taking your child to daycare, going to a restaurant
on a Friday night, or just going to see the grandkids. |
| To avoid the higher tolls, motorists will quickly take to
the side roads, Route 7, the Fairfax County Parkway and other
routes, clogging an already dismal county and state transportation
system. |
| It's a poor plan, one that should never even have been considered.
Just say no to higher tolls on the Dulles Toll Road. And call
your delegate, state senator, supervisor, even your mother,
and tell them that higher tolls equals higher taxes, and those
of us living in Western Fairfax and Eastern Loudoun are the
only ones who get to pay. |
| Anyone listening out there? |
| |
| More
Alphabet Dulles Rail Soup |
| Last week we wondered what all those alphabet words meant
when referring to the Dulles rail project. One stumped me,
as well as others I asked. But coming to my rescue was Vicky
Dorman, the right-hand woman to Fairfax County Supervisor
Stu Mendelsohn. |
| Mrs. Dorman says that "LPA stands for Locally Preferred
Alternative. That is where Loudoun, Fairfax county boards
and MWAA, and the Town of Herndon officially take a stand
on which rail alternative they prefer. This then goes to the
FTA for approval." |
| If you remember, MWAA means Metro Washington Airport Authority
and FTA means Federal Transit Authority. |
| |
| Be
Still My Heart |
| Some Metro station stops are installing defibrillators,
including the Pentagon City, Rosslyn and Crystal City stations. |
| These stations are part of an experiment with the devices,
which can restart the heart of a patient in cardiac arrest.
Metro officials say the defibrillators are easy to use and
can be used by the public without training. At least we can
now put those subway musicians to work. |
| But remember, Metro officials also say their elevators and
escalators also work on a regular basis. I just wonder how
Metro will be able to keep these defibrillators in working
order if they can't keep the elevators and escalators working. |
| If this plan works out, Metro plans to install the defibrillators
in all rail stations. Cost: $600,000. |
| Give me a working defibrillator or give me death! |
| And that's Our Town this week. |
