Virginia transportation officials have offered to pay $150 million toward the cost of the Dulles Rail project, Loudoun County Chairman Scott York said Wednesday.
The money would be used to offset the expected rise in the cost of tolls along the Dulles Toll Road. Under the current funding formula for the construction of rail to Dulles and into Loudoun County, toll road revenue would fund about 75 percent of the costs.
Current estimates put the cost of construction at about $3.5 billion. Using that figure, the toll for driving the 14-mile freeway could rise to nearly $11 by 2020.
An analysis of toll prices by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority found that with a $300 million grant from the state – twice as much as the offer – and with proposed savings bringing the price of construction down to about $2.8 billion, tolls would rise to about $8.50 by 2023.
York, speaking at a Board of Supervisors meeting, also said the state indicated that it would give the airports authority a longer lease on the toll road, allowing it to extend the repayment of loans, reducing the need for higher tolls.
Airports authority officials have been saying for several months that more financial support from the state and federal government is essential to keep the project viable.
