| Northern
Virginia transportation: pain now, gain later
by Heather Hayes
Virginia Business
May 2005
Beginning this month, the cost of driving around Northern
Virginia will get a little more expensive, and the
increase has nothing to do with the cost of fuel. The
Commonwealth Transpor-tation Board (CTB) recently announced
its first-ever hike in toll prices on the Dulles Toll
Road, increasing the cost for commercial and commuter
vehicles from 50 cents to 75 cents at the main toll
plaza and from 25 cents to 50 cents on entrance and
exit ramps. The new prices will take effect on May
22.
All revenue from the increase
will be used to help fund Virginia’s share
of the $4 billion Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project,
an extension of the mass
transit system that will initially parallel the 12-mile
roadway and eventually travel beyond the airport into
Loudoun County.
Construction on Phase 1, which
will be funded by federal, state and local money,
is scheduled to begin
in 2006. The hope is that more mass transportation
will ease the area’s traffic congestion.
In mid-March, the House of Representatives approved
a blueprint for federal spending on highway and transit
projects for the next five years. The action authorized
$600 million for the Metrorail extension over six years.
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