Tolls on the Dulles Toll Road could climb from $2 to as much as $19.25 each way by 2040 to pay off the construction of the Dulles Rail extension, according to preliminary figures released Wednesday. But financial consultants to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority said those rates could be as much as 30 percent lower if the project can obtain a special federal loan that has lower interest rates than the bond market.
The catch? The region would have to settle its wide differences over the planned station at Washington Dulles International Airport to convince federal officials to give them the highly sought-after Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act loan.
“If we can keep everyone in the game, we have a shot,” said MWAA Vice Chairman Tom Davis, a former Virginia congressman. “It’s in everybody’s interest for everybody to be on board.”
| Estimated Dulles Toll Road rates |
| Current tolls: $2 ($1.25 mainline, 75 cents ramps) |
| 2015: $4 with federal loan to $5.50 without |
| 2020: $6.75 with federal loan to $10.75 without |
| 2040: $14.75 with federal loan to $19.25 without |
Since the MWAA board voted April 6 to back an underground station, it has been at odds with its local funding partners, Fairfax and Loudoun counties, plus Virginia, which wanted a cheaper aboveground option. Board members acknowledged that their decision has sparked what Chairman Charles Snelling politely called “lively” discussion. They plan to meet Monday with local officials over the $300 million price difference.
Local officials were already smarting because the current price tag on the second phase of the 23-mile Metrorail extension is $3.5 billion, a full $1 billion more than when local communities agreed to fund it.
Officials have always planned to increase tolls to pay for the project; those tolls were expected to shoulder 75 percent of the cost. But as the cost projections have risen, so have the projected tolls. The toll for 2040 would have been $11 each way with the initial $2.5 billion price tag, the consultants said, compared with a maximum of $19.75 under the new cost estimates.
The dispute over the location of the airport station amounts to a difference of about 50 cents in the tolls, consultants said.
The numbers are preliminary figures based upon old studies, said consultant Bryan Grote with Mercator Advisors. The authority plans to update the study but that would take six months, he said.
Still, officials warn that the tolls themselves likely will change in amount and form. The authority may add electronic tolling or congestion pricing with varying rates depending on the time of day. It could create frequent-user discounts to take the expense away from regular commuters. Officials are even considering adding tolls to the free access road to the airport.
The authority also could raise how much it charges airport passengers, but MWAA spokesman Rob Yingling said the authority needs congressional approval to raise the ticket fee above the current $4.50 per passenger.
