Virginia State Route 267

Route information
Length	28.68 mi (46.16 km)
Existed	1982–present
Major junctions
Major intersections	SR 28 at Dulles Airport SR 7100 near Herndon I-495 near Tysons Corner
Location
Country	United States
State	Virginia
Highway system
Virginia Routes Interstate US Primary Secondary Byways History HOT lanes
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State Route 267 is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia. It consists of two end-to-end toll roads — the Dulles Toll Road and Dulles Greenway — as well as the Dulles Access Road, which lies in the median of the Dulles Toll Road. The combined roadway provides a toll road for commuting and a free road for Dulles Airport access. The three sections are operated by separate agencies: the Dulles Toll Road by the Virginia Department of Transportation, the Dulles Greenway by a private consortium, and the Dulles Access Road by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.

Dulles Access Road

The Dulles Access Road is a four-lane, 13.65-mile (21.97 km) highway that runs "inside" the Dulles Toll Road along its median. There are no general-access exits from the west-bound lanes, and no general-access entrances to the east-bound lanes, with the exception of gated slip ramps to and from the toll road that buses and emergency vehicles can use. The Access Road was built as part of the construction of Dulles Airport, and opened with the airport in 1962.

The Dulles Access Road is operated by the Virginia Department of Transportation under contract with the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, the owner of the land under the Dulles Toll Road, and has the unsigned designation of State Route 90004. The Dulles Airport Access Road can be used only for travel to and from Dulles Airport and other businesses (such as air freight, hotels, and gas stations) on the airport grounds. Although it is illegal, some commuters evade the toll and the traffic on the Toll Road by taking the Access Road to the airport, then "backtracking" to their exit. For a couple of years prior to the opening of the Dulles Toll Road, VDOT issued special stickers allowing commuters (for a fee) to backtrack legally along the access highway, but these were discontinued when the toll road opened.

Dulles Toll Road

The main toll plaza of the Dulles Toll Road

A closer view of the electronic and traditional lanes

File:Route267vawiehle.jpeg

View of Route 267 from the Wiehle Avenue exit

The Dulles Toll Road is an eight-lane, 16.15-mile (25.99 km) toll road. It was built in 1984 by the Virginia Department of Transportation. It begins just inside the Capital Beltway near Falls Church at a connector to Interstate 66 to Washington, D.C., travels westward through Fairfax County past Dulles Airport, and terminates at the entrance to the Dulles Greenway, a privately owned toll road. Officially, the road is named the Omer L. Hirst - Adelard L. Brault Expressway, in honor of two Virginia state legislators. However, the road is rarely referred to by that name. The speed limit is 55 mph (90 km/h).

From the Beltway, motorists exiting onto SR 267 toward Dulles Airport must choose between lanes marked Airport Traffic Only and To All Local Exits; the Airport Traffic Only lanes lead to the two westbound lanes of the Access Road. Eastbound traffic is routed differently; Dulles-originating traffic can choose destinations between Herndon exits (putting them on the mainline Toll Road) or further on (starting them on the Access Road), and transfer exits are provided from the Access Road to the Toll Road before the Herndon exits, Reston exits, and the Beltway. Access Road traffic to State Route 7 gets a separate exit ramp from those of the Toll Road, and then the two eastbound segments merge before the junction with Interstate 66.

A main toll plaza west of the Beltway interchange collects a 75 cent toll in both directions. In addition, toll booths are located on westbound exit ramps and eastbound entrance ramps, which collects tolls of 50 cents; although at the Route 7 interchange, tolls are only collected from Route 267 east to Route 7 east. All tollbooths are equipped with both the Smart Tag (Virginia) and E-ZPass (Virginia to Maine) electronic toll collection systems. Currently, 25 cents of each toll is attributable to the financing of a rapid mass transit line to Dulles Airport (see Silver Line (Washington Metro)).

HOV-2 restrictions are in effect during weekday rush hours, 6:30 to 9:00am eastbound and 4:00 to 6:30pm westbound, limiting the left lane to vehicles with two or more passengers between State Route 28 and the main toll plaza. Motorcycles and "clean fuel" vehicles (hybrid and compressed natural gas) are exempt from HOV restrictions in Virginia, allowing single-passenger vehicles of those types to use the lanes as well. During rush hour, the appropriate directions of Interstate 66 between the Beltway and U.S. Route 29 are HOV-2, as well as the portion of the Access Road between I-66 and SR 123.

On March 27, 2006, the Washington Metropolitan Airport Authority took over from Virginia the operation of the Dulles Toll Road, including the outstanding debt and the obligation to construct a rapid mass transit line in the median strip of the toll road.

Dulles Greenway

The Dulles Greenway is a privately owned toll road in Northern Virginia, running for 12.53 miles (20.17 km) northwest from the end of the Dulles Toll Road to the Leesburg Bypass (U.S. Route 15/State Route 7). Although privately owned, the highway is also part of SR 267. The speed limit is 65 mph (105 km/h).

The main toll plaza of the Dulles Greenway

The road was privately built and is not a public asset. The current owner is "Toll Road Investors Partnership II" (TRIP II), which is a consortium of the Bryant/Crane Family LLC, and Kellogg Brown & Root (KB&R). On August 31, 2005, Australian firm Macquarie Infrastructure Group announced that they have paid $533 million to TRIP II to acquire its 86.7% ownership of the Greenway, and is negotiating with KB&R for the remaining ownership rights.

The road was envisioned as early as the 1970s, when new residents were attracted to Loudoun County because of the relatively low cost of real estate. The road was completed and opened in 1995 and is often cited as a success story of public-private partnership. Tolls for two-axle vehicles are a maximum of $3.50. This is set to rise again; by 2012, drivers face a maximum round-trip toll of $9.60, when congestion pricing is taken into account. The Greenway is also one of two routes where a subscription membership (exclusive to Smart Tag) allows for an additional discount. Alternate (free) routes include State Route 7 and State Route 28, both of which are generally more congested. An analysis of price elasticity demonstrated that for every 10% increase in tolls, traffic growth decreases by 1.8%. Electronic toll collection accounts for more than 85% of transactions during peak periods.

The Greenway was later widened to six lanes from the mainline toll plaza to Leesburg. Use of the Greenway has grown, reflecting the increased population of Loudoun County. In 1996, the Greenway served 6.3 million trips, growing to 21 million in 2006. Its market share has increased from 25% of the east-west arterial road traffic (in 1995) to 35% (in 2004). Nonetheless, TRIP II teetered on the edge of bankruptcy beginning in 1996 and continuing for three years, as the region's economic downturn in the early 1990s led to lower-than-expected economic growth in Loudoun County and hence a failure to meet the original traffic and revenue predictions. As of 2006, TRIP II had yet to operate at a profit.

Regulatory framework

In 1988, the Virginia General Assembly passed the Virginia Highway Corporation Act of 1988, §§ 56-535 et seq., which authorized the construction of private toll roads in Virginia. Section 56-542 states that the State Corporation Commission sets the toll prices on the Greenway, and requires that tolls be "set at a level which is reasonable to the user in relation to the benefit obtained and which will not materially discourage use of the roadway by the public and which will provide the operator no more than a reasonable return as determined by the Commission." According to testimony by TRIP II CEO E. Thomas Sines, while the Greenway is subject to regulation, it is not treated like a utility, because it receives no exclusive service territory and because it is not a monopoly, since patrons have alternative public routes available should they seek to avoid paying tolls. Also, the operators lack eminent domain power and the authorized returns have a limited time horizon; in 2056, when the 60-year concession period will be up, ownership of the Greenway will transfer to the Commonwealth at no cost to the Commonwealth. The Virginia State Police patrol on the Greenway is paid solely by the Greenway.

TRIPS II has made many arguments supporting its claim that its rates are reasonable in relation to the benefits obtained by the users. During the morning and evening peak hours, the average speed on the Greenway is approximately 60 mph, more than double the speed on alternative route. Average travel time savings per trip are estimated to be approximately 21 minutes for the morning peak hour period and 16 minutes for the evening peak hour period for a total of 37 minutes travel time savings on each peak hour round trip. For off-peak journeys on the Greenway as compared to the alternate routes, average travel time savings per trip are estimated to be approximately 6.1 minutes in either direction. The relative lack of stop-start traffic conditions is said to reduce fuel usage and wear on the engine and brakes. The Greenway averages approximately 72 accidents for every hundred million miles traveled. By comparison, the accident rate on all Virginia roads is approximately 259 accidents for every hundred million miles traveled. Overall, accident rates on the Virginia roads are approximately three times higher than on the Greenway while injury rates on Virginia roads are approximately seven to nine times higher than on the Greenway. Approximately $2.3 million in accident costs are incurred per 100 million miles of travel on the Greenway, compared to $6.2 million over the same distance on alternative roads. For all trips on the Greenway at all times, the value of accident cost savings is estimated to be $0.57 per trip.

On September 11, 2007, the SCC approved a rate increase to $4.00 as of January 1, 2012 and the implementation of a 20% congestion pricing premium, for a total toll of $4.80 during peak times. The SCC had received public comment from hundreds of citizens and elected officials opposed to the rate hike. Rep. Frank Wolf in particular noted that the $4.80 toll over 14 miles of Greenway equated to 34 cents-per-mile, compared to Maryland's one-way toll on I-95 north of Baltimore's 5 cents-per-mile and the New Jersey Turnpike's $6.45, or less than 6 cents-per-mile, for the entire 113-mile toll road.

The SCC opined, "Almost 20 years ago, the Commonwealth made a series of policy decisions that leave us little choice but to make the decision we make in this case. Those decisions led to a regulated private company constructing and operating the Dulles Greenway." The SCC explained that it was known from the beginning that the projected total cost of service to the using public over the 40 year life of the Greenway project would be $894.8 million for VDOT compared to $3.5 billion for the Toll Road Corporation of Virginia. Factors included TRCV's higher debt service cost compared to debt issued by government agency, projected dividend payments to its shareholders in excess of $1.1 billion over the life of the project, and payment of income taxes and property taxes in excess of $785 million by TRCV that are not required of VDOT. But because VDOT had no plans to build a road, the only choice was between a TRCV-built road and no road at all. Accordingly, the application had been approved.

Exit list

County	Location	Mile	#	Destinations	Notes
Loudoun	Leesburg		1	US 15 / SR 7 - Frederick, MD, Leesburg, Warrenton	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; signed as exits 1A (south/west) and 1B (north/east)
			2	Battlefield Parkway
			3
	Ashburn		4
			5
			6
			7
	Sterling		8		Eastbound to SR 28 North
			9A	SR 28 south – Centreville, Manassas
			9B	SR 28 north – Sterling	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
				Washington Dulles International Airport	Eastbound exit is via exit 9A Dedicated eastbound exit is under construction (opening April 2009)
Fairfax	Herndon		10
			11
	Reston		12
			13
			14
	Tysons Corner		15	Wolf Trap National Park	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
			16	SR 7 (Leesburg Pike) – Tysons Corner, Leesburg	Signed as exits 16A (east) and 16B (west) eastbound
			17
			18	I-495 - Baltimore, Richmond	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
			18	I-495 north - Baltimore	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
			19	SR 123 – Tysons Corner, McLean	Signed as exits 19A (south) and 19B (north)
	Falls Church			I-66 east - Washington	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance

See also

• Private highway

External links

• Virginia Highways Project: VA 267
• VA Route 267: Dulles Greenway, from The Roads of Northern Virginia
• VA Route 267: Dulles Toll Road, from The Roads of Northern Virginia
• VDOT: Virginia Toll Facilities FAQ
• Smart Tag - Dulles Toll Road
• Dulles Greenway website
• History of Washington Dulles International Airport (see the section on "Access Roads")
• Dulles Rapid Mass Transit Corridor