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Reston Association Asking LeMunyon to Withdraw Toll Road Proposal
Group agrees with MWAA that bill would harm ability to finance Metro to Dulles.
The new Dulles Metrorail will include four stops in Tysons Corner and will eventually run out to Dulles International Airport.
Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project
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The Reston Association is asking Del. Jim LeMunyon to (R-67th District) to repeal House Bill 1539.
The Fairfax County legislator is introducing the bill to the general assembly that would give veto power to the Boards of Supervisors of Fairfax and Loudoun counties on any toll increase on the Dulles Toll Road. Currently, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) approves toll increases.
The toll road runs through Reston, the largest common-interest community association in Virginia.
"Reston Association is concerned with the serious harm this would cause to the Phase 2 extension of the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project," the letter states. "The association believes that this legislation would, in effect, be a terminating oder for the agreement between the MWAA and the Commonwealth. ... We need to complete Phase 2 of the Dulles Rail Project. Northern Virginia's future and our economy depend on it."
Phase 2 of the project is the section that runs from Wiehle Avenue to Dulles International Airport. It is expected to be completed in 2016, and it is estimated to cost $3.8 billion, well over the original proposed budget.
Reston resident Rob Whitfield, a member of the Dulles Corridor Users Group, addressed the board at the meeting.
"LeMunyon's bill is not perfect," he said. "But the whole intent is to have local representation. This bill is an effort to get this matter open to dialogue. The airport authority has failed. What we have ended up with as an absolutely disastrous financial plan. The airport authority is making decisions that impact our lives."
In other association news:
* RA awarded Winterport Cluster as its Reston Neighborhood Association of the Year.
RA has been giving the award since 2000 to the association or cluster who implemented changes to make the neighborhood more environmentally friendly, inspired community involvement, made moneysaving or lighting/security improvements and updated cluster standards.
Winterport's recent changes included removing non-native plants and taking steps to remedy soil erosion.
"It took a couple of years to figure out what needed to be done," said Bob Kraus, Winterport cluster president. "A lot of it was driven by the age of the cluster - we are 30 years old.
* RA honored Nicki Bellezza, watershed supervisor, as Reston Association Employee of the Year.
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Tammi Petrine
9:56 pm on Sunday, January 30, 2011
No one wishes the Metro to end at Wiehle Ave any longer than necessary. And I doubt the MWAA would allow that to happen. Their primary goal is to have Dulles served by rail.
My question is why our homeowners association takes it upon itself, with NO advance public dialogue, to decree that unending toll increases are acceptable to Restonians either?
I thought RA's duties were to shepherd our collective common grounds and facilities and to keep our properties in good repair. I was not aware that our charter deemed RA as mayoral or substituting for a city council. Indeed, I do NOT want RA to be submitting letters of political opinion without our permission or debate.
If given a chance to express opinion on this vexing dictum, I would wager that I am not alone in my ire at being offered up as a captive population willing to fund 57% of the Phase 2 costs through continuing and increasing toll taxes.
What other area of the county served by Metro has been taxed in this manner? For that matter, what other area of Fairfax County has a toll road as the main access to its community? Fair is fair. Scare tactics are out of line in this debate.
If the public rallies against this toll tax scheme, our governments, local, state and Federal, will figure out a more equitable way to finance Phase 2 AND check more carefully the cost estimates and bidding procedures followed in its construction.