Monday, April 29, 2013
Top news of the week from our Patches around Virginia and DC.
Patch has 31 community sites in Virginia and D.C. Here are some of the top stories from around the region over the past week. 16. Mark Wahlberg Visits: Actor Mark Wahlberg visited T.C. Williams High School on Wednesday morning for an assembly presented by Get Schooled, a nonprofit that aims to engage high school students in an effort to improve graduation rates and empower more students to achieve in college. “I had to work really hard to get where I’m at,” Wahlberg said. “And I don’t mind working really hard to try and maintain it." 15. Runner Pledges 30 Races: Arlington resident Lauren Bailey is halfway through a personal challenge that has been daunting and exhilarating — running 30 races in one year, the year of her 30th birthday. …
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Reston 2020 paper looks at additional Dulles Toll Road crossing's impact on traffic and Metro access.
The Fairfax County Department of Transportation is looking at creating an extension of Soapstone Drive that will provide another way for cars, pedestrians and cyclists to get across the Dulles Toll Road and also access the future Wiehle-Reston East Metro station. In March, county officials presented residents with several options for bridge placement, but they also said there is currently no money in place for the $100-150 million project. Reston 2020's Dick Rogers has written a white paper on the subject titled The Soapstone Connection: A Bridge to Reston's Future. "The Soapstone Connector is the one infrastructure project that gives the most hope of improving access to Wiehle-Reston East Metro Station and relieving congestion on Wiehle …
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Virginia governor says savings on construction will be passed on to savings by drivers.
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell says the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority's five proposals for construction of Phase 2 of the Silver Line came in far below expectations - which he predicts will mean major savings for Virginia taxpayers and users of the Dulles Toll Road. MWAA received proposals last week from Bechtel Transit Partners, Capital Rail Constructors, Dulles APC Railbuilders, Dulles Metrorail Connectors, and Silver Line Constructors. The estimates range from $1.17 billion to $1.37 billion, MWAA said. MWAA is expected to conduct a detailed review of the proposals and award a contract later this spring. The $2.7 billion Phase 2 is being built without federal funding (Phase 1 received $900 million in federal dollars). It will …
Monday, March 25, 2013
With tolls projected to increase, officials are looking into air rights sales.
Fairfax County is exploring how selling air rights could help reduce tolls on the Dulles Toll Road that are expected to shoot up with Phase II Silver Line construction. Supervisor Pat Herrity (R-Springfield) asked staff last week to look into the cost of a study determining how much money the county could charge developers for the right to build over the Toll Road and new Silver Line Metro stations. Air rights over roads and rail have been sold numerous times in New York City. For example, the 58-story Metlife building in New York is built in air rights above Grand Central Terminal. The city is also hoping to make as much as $750 million for mass transit improvements through air rights sales around Grand Central, according to Bloomberg. “…
Friday, March 22, 2013
Engineers show Restonians some of the options for a future crossing point of the Dulles Toll Road.
Reston residents got a look Wednesday night at how a future extension of Soapstone Drive might work as it connects Sunset Hills Road and Sunrise Valley Drive and offers an access option to the Wiehle-Reston East Metro station. "This is an opportunity to find other transportation alternatives," Hunter Mill Supervisor Cathy Hudgins told the crowd at South Lakes High School. "Reston has a great layout," she said. "But we have some barriers. The gulf of the Dulles Toll Road makes it difficult as there is no place other than Wiehle and Reston Parkway." Hudgins also said there is not yet funding in place to build the Soapstone extension, which consultants say could cost $100-150 million. One of the biggest costs: land acquisition and impact, …
Monday, March 18, 2013
Woman gives birth on Dulles Toll Road en route to Reston Hospital Center.
A couple heading to Reston Hospital Center to deliver their baby Monday morning instead found themselves welcoming their daughter into the world on the shoulder of the Dulles Toll Road. Sarah Bergeaux of Leesburg was not due until April 4. But when she began to feel contractions before dawn on Monday, she suggested to her husband, Jean-Paul, perhaps he should return from his gym workout and take her to the hospital. By the time they were set to go -- and had friends in place to watch their 21-month-old son -- Sarah was in labor. They were on the toll road heading to Reston and baby Noelle could wait no more. Jean-Paul had 911 on the line, but the baby was born - with lights flashing and parents praying - near the flyover lane at Route 28…
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
The governor visited Fairfax County on Monday to rally support for his transportation bill, promising some money to reduce fees on the Dulles Toll Road.
Gov. Bob McDonnell made a stop in Northern Virginia on Monday afternoon to urge locals to push their representatives to support his divisive transportation-funding package, which the state Senate is scheduled to vote on again Tuesday. The governor said his proposal, which failed to pass the Senate in a partisan, 20-20 vote last week, would raise about $3 billion for road and transit improvements over the next five years. The bill would eliminate the state’s 17.5-cents-per-gallon gas tax and raise the state sales tax from 5 percent to 5.8 percent. The House last week amended their version of the bill, eliminating a $100 alternative vehicle fee for owners of hybrid cars and prohibiting tolls on I-95 south of Fredericksburg. Senate …
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Examiner: 1.1 million slipped through booth on Dulles Toll Road - and never got a cited. How much is that costing MWAA?
Saturday, February 2, 2013
The new strategic plan aims to take Metro through 2040.
A $26 billion strategic plan released by Metro last week gave a glimpse at the agency's vision — which includes several substantial recommendations like new Potomac River crossings and new Metro stations — for taking the transit agency into 2025, 2040 and beyond. Called Metro Momentum, the plan acknowledged piecemeal fixes to an aging system are barely scraping the surface of the transit agency's needs and a growing DC region, whose population is expected grow 30 percent over the next three decades. "Our customers know that many trains, stations and buses are already crowded and we need to begin planning now to prevent that from worsening and prepare for more riders,” Metro General Manager and CEO Richard Sarles said in a press release. …
Friday, December 28, 2012
As scheduled, tolls on the on/off ramps and at main plaza to rise by 25 cents.
The cost of driving on the Dulles Toll Road is about to rise again on Tuesday. Beginning Jan. 1, the toll rate on the Dulles Toll Road will increase by 25 cents at the Main Toll Plaza to $1.75. Toll rates on the on/off ramps will increase by 25 cents to $1. These amounts were previously set in a November hearing, but the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority has deferred making a decision on tolls for 2015. There will be an additional increase in January 2014 to $2.50 at the main plaza. The toll increases are necessary, in part, for the Airports Authority to operate and maintain the Dulles Toll Road and to construct the Metrorail Silver Line, which will begin operating in Dec. 2013. While Phase 1 of the Silver Line is being built …
Peter Paul van Dijk
11:07 am on Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Probably the best solution to the inevitable traffic suffocation at Wiehle metro station is to fast-track the metro's extension to Dulles, so that at least the Reston Town Center and Herndon/Monroe stations become operational, and with them the substantial parking facilities and traffic flow options there. more ›