Trade road for rails? Sort of...
A group of road builders and toll road operators will offer the Commonwealth of Virginia over $1 billion to privatize the Dulles Toll Road, which runs between the Capital Beltway and Dulles Airport west of Washington, D.C. Well, sort of "privatize." The state would still own the road (well, sort of own the road--the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority owns the land the road sits on) and, perhaps most importantly, the state will still set tolls. Hmm, doesn't sound so private to me...
The Washington Post bandies about the suggestion that the $1 billion could go to pay for a Metrorail extension to Tysons Corner, a large commercial center in Northern Virginia. True, but it could also go to build another road in Richmond or who knows where else...
Post Author:
massysett | 6:36 PM |
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What about a Metrorail straight out to Dulles? That would greatly reduce the traffic on the toll road.
It's a good deal if and only if it turns out 50 years worth of toll revenues are less than the construction cost plus debt service the state would have to pay on a traditional $1 billion loan.
