Let's Go Reston!

Based on this blurry cellular telephone photograph shared by a Confidential Restonian Operative this morning, our fellow Restonians are, as one might expect of residents of a community with covenants governing everything from trim color to decorative stone, big fans of jurisprudence. Either that, or there's a NASCAR race scheduled for the Toll Road this weekend (not that you'd notice the difference, the end). 

Will Lexus Lanes Mar Reston's Ford Focus Future? Almost Certainly

Even as economists wring their hands and warn of the imminent hellish dystopian economic hellscape in which Reston residents will be forced to drive Ford Foci, plans are in the works to jack up tolls on the Toll Road introduce "variable-rate pricing," which has brought us awesomely disruptive high-tech innovations like $47-plus tolls on I-66, to our favorite E-Ticket ride to Tysons Corner, the Dulles Toll Road. Give us some cautiously worded verbiage, BFFs at the Washington Post:

Dulles Toll Road officials are eager to talk about an equipment upgrade that will bring the more than 30-year-old toll collection system into the modern age. The new system will allow drivers to pay by credit card and offer a self-service option for those who don’t have an E-ZPass transponder.

What McKeough and others are reluctant to tout, however, is how the $23.4 million upgrade will give the system the ability to charge variable tolls — such as changing prices based on the time or day or amount of traffic.

McKeough emphasized that no decision has been made on whether MWAA would move to a congestion-based pricing system.

“That is a policy question,” she said. “And I am here to talk about construction.”

MWAA board chairman Warner Session did not respond to requests for comment about the project or whether the panel was considering variable tolls.

The Post notes (with considerable understatement) that variable tolling "has generated criticism" because of high tolls in the so-called "Lexus lanes" on I-66, I-495, and elsewhere in the region. But not to worry, silly rabbits! This is the Toll Road we're talking about, and like Reston, it's special! For starters, it carries the "special" debt from building the Silver Line, which riled up a bunch of people who see mass transit, like other functional government services, as something they shouldn't have to pay for as they drive alone to their strapping-bombs-to-dolphins contracting jobs, but we digress.

What is extra special, though, is that the contract for the Toll Road "equipment upgrade" has been awarded to the same company that gouged developed the I-66 tolling process. So all demureness aside on the part of MWAA, it's a good bet that variable tolling will happen at some point.

It's important to remember that toll rates were projected to go up anyways:

The next projected toll increase — to $4.75 — for the main toll plaza and one ramp transaction — is scheduled for January 2019. By 2043, the rate could increase to $11.25; by 2048, the final year tolls are projected to rise under the current schedule, the rate would be $12.50, according to budget documents provided by MWAA.

Who knows, maybe the variable tolling will help spread out those increasing costs and mitigate congestion in a sensible way, just like it's supposed to. Or by 2048, maybe it'll be the dolphins who will be commuting to strap bombs to us, the end.

Shocker: Higher Toll Road Tolls Mean Less Toll Road Use

Not content with bringing down a presidency nearly 40 years ago, the Washington Post came up with another massive page one Metro section scoop over the weekend: The higher tolls on the Toll Road are convincing some people to try to find another route for their Reston-to-Tysons runs. Give us some nearly-impossible-to-believe blockquote:

But after five straight years of toll increases, many drivers have decided that the convenience, such that it is, is no longer worth the cost.

“You talk to people and they go, ‘Oh, hell, no — I don’t use the toll road,’ ” said Tammi Petrine, a longtime Reston resident who used to use it but now avoids it whenever possible.

Burt Rosenberg, too, has sworn off the roadway.

“It’s the principle,” said Rosenberg, also from Reston, who uses the road only when he’s running late. “I just can’t encourage them, or they’ll just keep raising it.”

Commuters say that avoiding the 14-mile toll road has forced them to get creative, incorporating back roads and side streets into their daily drive. They compare notes with co-workers and neighbors — though not all are willing to share their routes.

Spoiler alert: Rt. 7. Secret's out!

Not surprisingly, statistics show that as tolls increase, the number of annual toll road transactions decreases. Between 2010 and 2013, the number of transactions on the toll road declined by more than 5 million.

And the dropoff hasn’t hurt the agency’s bottom line. MWAA made more than $127 million in toll revenue in 2013, compared with $88 million in 2010 — an increase of over $39 million.

That's a lot of quarters.

The Post article points out that some people are annoyed that the ever-rising tolls are being used to pay for the Metro Silver Line, though those people could always ditch their gas-guzzling cars and get downtown on the Metr--oh, right.

Officials at MWAA — which operates the toll road and is managing construction of the Silver Line — say they are sympathetic and are doing their best to temper the increases. They note that an additional $300 million in funding from the state and a low-interest loan from the federal government mean tolls likely won’t have to be increased again until 2018.

MWAA says the additional funding also means that future toll increases are likely to come less often and won’t be as steep. Still, barring another financial windfall, tolls will increase in coming years. According to an analysis by MWAA, by 2043, it may cost $11.25 per trip to drive on the toll road.

Well worth it, not to rub your shoulders with the hoi polloi on the surface streets.

So maybe we've been paying for rail service that doesn't yet exist. Fortunately, our BFFs at Metro were at the Herndon Festival this weekend, dispensing an emergency kit with everything we need to help us pass the time until it does:


We'll just double-dutch while waiting for the bus, the end.

Tysons On $7 A Day: Toll Road Rates Going Up Again

Starting January 1, the cost of a round-trip ride to the wonders of Tyson via the Toll Road will be $7, though for a change those of us slumming it going the other direction to Herndon or (shudder) Sterling won't pay more:

Tolls on the Dulles Toll Road will increase to $2.50 beginning Jan. 1 for passenger cars at the main toll plaza.

That’s an increase of 75 cents over the current rate, $1.75. Toll rates at the on and off ramps will remain $1.

Another bit of exciting news: As of now, there are no toll hikes planned for 2015.

Of course, the solution to all this is to merely use the Silver Line instead, which was conveniently scheduled to open in January, allowing us all to avoid the fare hikes on the Toll Ro-and, oh, right.

In what is rapidly becoming a Restonian Holiday Tradition(tm), let's see what you could buy in Tysons for under $7:

Wow, a bargain, even at fancypants Aeropostale! Too bad it expired back in August.

Hmm. We're starting to see a trend here.

If you don't mind a little walking, you can also hike down the median strip of 123 to this high-end retailer in Vienna. You can buy all these things and still have enough left over for a beer at this fine establishment!

And, of course, the cosmopolitan, Paris-like atmosphere is totally free! Compare that to this giant rip-off:

14.5 Euros? We'll stick with the Toll Road at a fraction of that cost, the end.

Another Roll of Quarters, Please: Reston Man Racks Up $200,000 in Toll Road Fees

In a story that's already gotten picked up by newspapers across the pond, a Reston man managed to rack up $200,000 in unpaid Toll Road charges -- or, in a couple of years, the equivalent of a half-dozen round trips to Tysons. Hey, give us some good blockquote, Action McNews:

Jason Bourcier doesn't deny that he rode the Dulles Toll Road nightly without paying for his commute from Reston to Washington three-and-a-half years ago when he was looking for work.

A friend told him that when the toll booths were unmanned after 11:30 p.m., you could use the road without paying. His friend was wrong.

This week, VDOT took Bourcier to court because his bill had ballooned from $440 to more than $200,000, including late fees and interest. They reached a settlement and agreed on a payment plan.

“They provided me with a stack of summonses that was 12 inches high, and me and my lawyers, the best that we could do was $40,000,” he said. “Another kicker is they put me on a payment plan for $150 a month.”

At that rate and with interest due – another $55,000 – Bourcier, who is 33 and now has a good job, figures he will be 87 years old by the time he pays VDOT back.

Given that we'll all be tossing quarters into the bins to pay for the Silver Line well into our golden years, he won't be alone.

As Metro Opening Nears(ish), Portents Abound

It won't be long before we start seeing these guys stuck in bumper to bumper traffic on Wiehle Avenue. And that's not the only sign that the Silver Line is getting closer to (maybe) opening early next year, though no one's willing to say exactly when.

Our BFFs at the Toll Road are getting ready, preparing for an exciting "upgrade" of its tolling facilities. They're still going to take cash at the manned booths, but those fun plastic baskets that have tempted us to do over-the-shoulder quarter layups will soon be history:

The Dulles Toll Road was built in 1984, prior to the advent of electronic toll tags, and has always been a cash-centric system by design. While some E-ZPass-only lanes have been added in recent years, the exits and main toll plaza feature manned tollbooths and exact change lanes at which drivers toss coins into a basket.

With more than 80 percent of toll road users making the switch to the electronic toll tags and tolls reaching the level that a driver now needs seven quarters to use the exact change lanes, it is time for the airports authority to consider updating the system, said Chris Browne, vice president and manager of Washington Dulles International Airport.

“A lot of what we are spending is keeping these old baskets and coin machines going,” he said.

Of course, the real reason for the changes?

With a modern collection system, the board can consider options like distance-based toll pricing or having different toll rates at different times of day.

Can't wait.

Meanwhile, Metro has launched a fancy website dedicated to our favorite subway line. Will you enjoy riding 60 feet above the storied architectural beauty of Tysons Corner? Appropriately Diverse Stock Photo People say yes!

Sadly, when you click on the map for the Reston/Wiehle East "neighborhood," none of the exciting retail and/or dining experiences are within walking distance (yet). Some of the options are actually in Herndon, and they inexplicably included Kmart and not its much-touted retail neighbor.

Guess we'll need to borrow Stock Photo Business Guy's bicycle and messenger bag, the end.

They've Got Ideas: Virginia Lawmakers Mull Quarter-Saving Options for Toll Road Users (Maybe)

Worried about Dulles Toll Road rates continuing to increase beyond the eminently reasonable 22 quarters it now takes to make a round-trip visit to the wonders of The Crystal Koons Car Valhalla Tysons? Don't worry, as the Virginia General Assembly has, as they say in the movies, a plan:

Lawmakers are considering legislation that would allow the state to back $500 million in bonds for the Dulles Rail project, reducing the interest rate on the borrowed money so that tolls wouldn't have to be raised by as much.

"I really want to protect our citizens from having tolls reach higher amounts than they should," said Del. Randy Minchew, R-Leesburg, the bill's sponsor.

Virginia lawmakers are also considering buying outright the Dulles Greenway, the privately built extension of the DTR that runs through the fertile particleboard nirvana of eastern Loudoun County, in order to keep tolls there from continuing to rise.

State leaders are now negotiating to buy the privately owned Greenway, a toll road west of Washington Dulles International Airport.

"I have to be able to negotiate an acceptable deal in terms of what we pay for it," said Del. Joe May, R-Leesburg, who is leading the push to buy the road. "I'm optimistic we're going to find a deal that works for both sides."

The Greenway could cost hundreds of millions of dollars, May said, but state ownership would be good news for commuters. The state is unlikely to raise tolls on the road, as its private owners are slated to do, he said. A trip down the Greenway now costs as much as $5.80 during peak periods.

As transportation ideas go, these are probably slightly less crazy (and slightly more realistic) than tolling the Fairfax County Parkway or building a fancy new outer outer Beltway. And they're definitely a lot less crazy than this cost-saving idea floated for the Silver Line itself last year. All they would take is money. Lots of money!

Ayn Rand -- and presumably her ideologically aligned fellow travelers in the Virginia legislature -- would weep over any of these ideas, so who knows if they have any likelihood of gaining traction. On the other hand, Rand really liked trains, so maybe it's kind of a wash.

Welcome 2013, With Four More Quarters and Concerns in 'Principal'

This exciting photo of the Wiehle Avenue Metro station, which will should actually be completed sometime this year, shows just how far Silver Line construction has already come as we welcome the baby new year 2013: Not only has the escalator been installed, it's already been placed out of service, a full 11 months ahead of schedule! Way to go!

In the meantime, don't forget to take an additional four quarters with you before you set out for the wonders of Tysons and beyond on the Toll Road. And the only thing better than a $5.50 round-trip to see endless seas of car lots, bland "world-class" office space and construction will be when the trip costs even more next year!

Meanwhile, the Connection "news paper" tells us that Reston residents, "while excited in principal about the changes coming to their community in the calendar year 2013, are also concerned about aspects of their day-to-day existence that might be forever changed with the opening of Metrorail." We're more concerned about the incorrect use of principle, but alrighty then! Here's a comment from a Reston resident:

"I think of how crazy that McDonald's drive through and the gas station get now in the mornings, and I think of hundreds or thousands more lining up before the trains in the morning."

In the same issue, John Lovaas looks for a "silver lining" (get it?)

For three to five years, the Wiehle Avenue station will be the end of the line, and traffic in
Reston will be a nightmare from just about the day the station opens. Fairfax County and VDOT have combined to make zero major supporting road infrastructure improvements to support rail. The first, a bridge at Soapstone, is due in about 20 years—yep, 20 years. So, until “Phase 2” is completed and train service actually goes to Dulles, thousands will flock to the Wiehle Station from the west and south. Gridlock will own us for those three to five years.

Geez, everyone's so grumpy! Doesn't anyone have anything positive to say about the year to come?

We can expect a rebirth at the ghost town Tall Oaks area. And, the long awaited Lake Anne “revitalization” will actually take place, albeit at the county’s glacial pace. Hopefully, our soon-to-be 99-year-old Founder Robert Simon will live to see construction on the latter project he fought so hard for. If done right, both developments could be very positive for Reston.

A more negative ripple effect of rail to Tysons is the likely redevelopment of what is now 166 acres of green space in the heart of Reston called Reston National Golf Club. It is hard to imagine that our Fairfax overlords will not ultimately cave to the corporate powers. I really hope I’m wrong on this one.

Us too. One thing's for sure: It's going to be an interesting year.

Toll Road Hikes: The True Value of a Trip to Tysons

Surprising absolutely no one, the airports authority has formally approved increased Dulles Toll Road fees for next year and 2014, though they compassionately held off on formalizing rate hikes in 2015 on the off chance a giant pot of money falls from the sky more federal or state money materializes to pay for Metro Silver Line construction, which would help mitigate future toll increases.

So starting January 1, it will cost $5.50 to make a round-trip from Reston to the wonders of Tysons Corner. In 2014, that will go up to $7. But those are just numbers. In the spirit of News You Can Use, we did a little research (googling) to see just what $5.50 can get you at the epitome of the increasingly urbane and sophisticated nexus of commerce and business known as "Fairfax County's downtown:" the Tysons food court.

Wow. Even the most expensive hand-rolled fatty tuna rolls at Wasabi, the fancy conveyor belt sushi place in the middle of the mall, cost 50 cents less than the round trip to get there. Just take Rt. 7 instead, and the world is your oyster! (We're not sure they serve oyster there.)

Pony up an additional 9 cents, big spender, and you can get a burger at Five Guys, with unlimited toppings! Of course, you could save the $5.50 in tolls by going to one of the Reston locations instead, but then you'd miss the sophistication and cosmopolitan flair of Tysons whilst enjoying your charred animal flesh broiled in peanut oil.

Okay, we finally managed to find something more expensive -- and just slightly longer and more tedious -- than a trip down the Toll Road to Tysons. At least for the next two years, anyway.

Confirmed: Toll Road Rates Going Up, Sun to Continue Rising in the East

The airports authority has released its schedule for toll increases through 2015, and guess what? They're going up.

Effective January 1, 2013, tolls at the mainline plaza will be $1.75 (up from $1.50) and the ramps will be $1.00 (up from $0.75).

There are two options currently being presented by MWAA for toll prices from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2014. The first would raise the cost at the mainline plaza to $2.50, with no increase on the ramps. The second would raise the mainline plaza to $2.25, and the ramps to $1.25.

There are two similar options for rates from Jan. 1 to Dec. 31 2015. Option A calls for a mainline plaza raise to $2.75 and the ramps raised to $1.75. Option B would raise the mainline plaza to $3.00 and the ramps to $1.50.

Either way, in just a little over two years, we'll be paying $9 for a round-trip excursion to the wonders of Tysons Corner. The Greater Reston Chamber is in support of concentrating the toll increases at the mainline plaza to encourage shorter trips on the Toll Road where "transit is not an option." And the folks at AAA took some time away from printing Trip-Tiks for your family's road trip to Disneyworld to say they're opposed to the rapid toll hikes, adding in a snap unprecedented in auto-wrecker-dispatching-company correspondence:

It was a rotten formula at the start whose stench only gets worse with each passing year and the skyrocketing tolls that come with it. As the latest round of toll hikes for a round-trip on the Dulles Toll Road prove, they don’t call it the “Silver Line” for nothing, but we think it’s now more deserving of a new name: “Platinum Line.”

Our BFFs at Reston 2020 have also weighed in, arguing that the toll hikes will move 10,000 to 15,000 trips to Reston roads, especially after our stocks of extra coinage stuck behind the sofa cushions have been exhausted. They also predict the hikes will "slow the economic and tax revenue growth the construction of the Silver Line is meant to stimulate," arguing that the impact could undermine future county tax revenue from all that projected bollardy growth by 5 to 10 percent.

Where's the funny part, you ask? How about this comment from the public hearings about the toll hikes from a few weeks back, where people got to see this fancy Powerpoint:

The Airports Authority says public feedback will be taken seriously when establishing the new toll rates later this year.

Ha ha, that's a good one! Enjoy the veal and be sure to tip your waitress, folks. And now, tonight's featured act, Bobcat Goldthwait!


Be thankful we did NOT set this video to "autoplay."

As the Silver Line Turns: Name-Calling, Slanted Surveys, and a Glimpse of Loudoun's Future

As the prevarication over Phase 2 of Metro's Silver Line continues, the unabashed stupid careful consideration of relevant issues has spread from Loudoun's partisan, anti-labor obsessed Board of Supervisors to partisan, anti-labor obsessed Virginia lawmakers. Show them how it's done in the big leagues, Virginia lawmakers!

Virginia House Democratic Leader David J. Toscano (D-Charlottesville) responded to the state’s Transportation Secretary Sean Connaughton calling legislators and their staff “idiots” in a debate over funds on Metro’s new Silver Line.

In a news release Friday, Toscano said... the “rhetoric used by members of the House of Delegates and now the Governor’s administration has crossed the line. Our state, once prized for its ability to be reasonable and measured in our debate, continues to have its reputation tarnished.”

Nonsense! Shooting down what may be one of the last major federally funded public works projects over a right-wing talking point won't tarnish Virginia's reputation. It's about par for the course.

Haters critics are pointing to a survey that shows most Virginians aren't in favor of the Silver Line, though in reality those who oppose it tend to live in places where they don't cotton to frivolous modern necessities such as "mass transit" or "color TV."

In the Washington suburbs, including Fairfax and Arlington counties and Alexandria, 67 percent say the project is important, with 41 percent calling it extremely important. But in the remaining parts of the state it’s 25 percent.

Have you been south of Dumfries lately? Unleaded gasoline would only get a 25 percent favorable rating in most of the state.

In case you aren't already slamming your head into your desk over all the stupid, please to be enjoying this Action McNews Team video of the statesmen-like Loudoun Board of Supervisors stone cold talking about the Silver Line:



Here's a more recent genius comment from one of the Loudoun supervisors:

Supervisor Ken Reid (R-Leesburg) focused on the Lesser report finding that the county would grow regardless of Metro.

“You can have the growth with Metro or without,” he said, repeating Bogarad’s assertion.

Quite right. As a public service, here's what that growth would look like in both cases. First, with Metro:

Now, without:

Your call, Loudoun.

Meanwhile, with all the gas being expelled over this project, very little is still being said about the real issue, which is how many thousands of quarters Toll Road drivers will need to pay for the project even if it does go forward. As Reston Citizens Association President Colin Mills points out:

But in all the back and forth about PLAs and unions and MWAA's expenses and in all the political posturing, one thing seems to be getting ignored: the fact that the majority of Phase 2's costs are still projected to fall on the Toll Road users.

Ultimately, the debate over the PLA is not that important. It matters to construction unions and anti-union activists, but whether or not a PLA is imposed, it will not spell the success or failure of the project. While RCA hopes that Loudoun County will remain committed to the project and that Virginia will contribute the $150 million it has promised, we have not taken a position on the PLA issue.

Similarly, while the DOT's audit of MWAA will hopefully prompt the authority to clean up some of its hazier practices, unclear ethics policies and reimbursed trips are not going to break Phase 2. RCA also has taken no position on the DOT audit, apart from the section relating to CDM Smith's report.

Where we have taken a position, and where we are focusing our energy, is on the huge projected rise in tolls on the Toll Road, and what that means for the Silver Line project as a whole and for the traffic situation in and around Reston. The PLAs may mean a lot to some elected officials, but the tolls are what matter most to Reston citizens.

Reston 20/20 recently released a white paper demonstrating how the projected rise in tolls would affect Reston and the Silver Line. They ran the numbers, and found that if the tolls rise as CDM Smith forecasts, regular users of the Toll Road will see nearly half of their anticipated real income gains over the next 40 years wiped out by the tolls. Almost half! The toll cost for regular commuters will ultimately amount to over $8,000 a year, which is a pretty hefty chunk of change.

We love the name of the aforementioned white paper, which calls the soon-to-be-exorbitant Toll Road the "Highway of the One Percent." But nothing to see here folks! Move along, and keep an eye out for those pesky union goons!

In a call for bipartisan calm, we share this once more:


Keep clapping, kids, or we'll be forced to post this a third time!

Update: Commenter Mean Daddy D may have just won the Internet.

Will 'Reston West - Herndon, Not Herndon' Become the '54-40 or Fight' of Western Fairfax County? No, Probably Not

Now that the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors has agreed to fund Phase 2 of the Metro Silver Line, it's time to focus on what's really important: the names of several stations that may never be built once Loudoun County decides to take its ball and bounce it against its own particleboard walls go home.

In a fancy press release, the RA has taken objection to the county's recommendations for the proposed Silver Line station names, which somewhat oddly strip "Tysons" from the name of three of the four stations in "Fairfax County's downtown." Almost like they're embarrassed of that fabulous model of urban planning or something? Closer to home, the county has recommended calling the station that's kind of near Herndon, and no one seems to want in Herndon, "Herndon." Them's fightin' words!

The RA -- or at least one member of its board -- has asked the county to reconsider suggesting the station name "Reston West - Herndon" (we still like the idea of calling it the Polo Fields station). Could this dispute become the "54-40 or Fight" of western Fairfax County? Probably not.

The RA also suggested changes to the other two Reston station names. flipping Wiehle - Reston East to Reston East - Wiehle and changing Reston Town Center to Reston Central. According to the press release:

“The Reston Association believes the names should let riders know they are in Reston,” [RA President Kathleen] Driscoll McKee said.

She added that using Reston as the primary name rather than the street or shopping area appearing first would “clearly identify the location to passengers and station staff.”

Wait a minute -- did the RA president just call Reston Town Center a shopping area? While we agree with the county that Reston Town Center's probably the best name for that station, that means that people can't fault us for calling it a Fake Downtown anymore.

Of course, all of this could be moot, since the Metro board ultimately chooses the names -- and by the time these stations are open, it'll be so broke it'll have to sell the naming rights off to commercial sponsors, just like our state's right-thinking highway system. We can't wait to alight at the Gold Bond Medicated Powder station on the newly renamed We Buy Gold Line to head to Tysons Corner Greensboro Park. (Seriously, WTF?)

Meanwhile, our BFFs at Reston2020 sent Fairfax County supervisors a report with this fancy graph to show what will happen to tolls on the Toll Road:

Nothing to see here, folks. Move along.

Citing Faulty Toll Road Projections, Reston Citizens Association Calls For Halt on Phase 2 of Silver Line Until Independent Forecast Is Completed

The newest potential stumbling block to Phase 2 of Metro's Silver Line? A fancy 81-page report from our BFFs at the Reston Citizens Association, complete with "scatter plots" and footnotes that say, in essence, that current projections for Toll Road usage and revenues are basically full of crap and that drivers may have to pay for all that false optimism with rolls of quarters on future Crate & Barrel runs to Tysons. Happy Friday, policy wonks!

In letters to all the key stakeholders -- Virginia Governor McDonnell, the FHWA, MWAA, and Fairfax and Loudoun counties -- the RCA argues that no decision should be made on proceeding with Phase 2 of Metro construction until "an independent traffic and revenue forecast" is undertaken.

“RCA has long been enthusiastic about Metrorail to Dulles via Reston,” said Terry Maynard, the report’s principal drafter, “but we do not want a rail line at any price, especially one that forces Dulles Toll Road users to absorb most of the financial burden and area communities to absorb added traffic on already crowded local roads. The prospects are even worse if the WSA forecasts overestimate revenues as much as our research suggests. We hope that an independent forecast, combined with ‘value engineering’ for Phase 2 and restructuring the financial arrangements will lead to a better outcome for everyone.”

Entitled "Plenty of Room for Error," the RCA study argues that "optimism bias" is the main culprit of the current Toll Road revenue projections, citing a whole slew of examples from past projects around the country and charging that current local projections used the best-case estimates of population and job growth, even before the projected decline in federal government spending reared its ugly head.

"We cannot find any recent case in which an existing toll road has absorbed an additional multi-billion dollar debt and succeeded financially," the report states, pointing to projects elsewhere currently facing default.

Without changes in the funding formula, the report argues that one-way tolls will rise to $15, $20 or more within the next 20 years.

RCA raises valid concerns, but an equally grave concern is what happens if Phase 2 doesn't get built for whatever reason -- and the folks in the particleboard Nirvana to our west are already getting cold feet. A Silver Line that ends at Wiehle Avenue is essentially a guarantee of gridlock for Reston, so let's hope some realistic projections and smart decisions come out of this, instead of the bold suggestions we've seen in recent months.

A New Year's Gift from MWAA: Higher Tolls

Happy new year from the airport authority, which on Sunday increased the tolls at the main plaza on the Dulles Toll Road to $1.50. Fortunately, the tolls at the on/off ramps remain unchanged, so we can pretend we're escaping Reston at no added cost.

With a round trip to the big city sprawling wasteland of Tysons now topping out at $4.50, we've got a ways to go before we hit the $17 one-way tolls people fear are coming to help pay for the Silver Line. In the meantime, we can relax knowing our added quarters will go not only to fund Metro construction, but also help pay for "more overhead lighting, new guardrails and repaired toll booths." Which is great, until the road becomes so expensive that only people who are willing to pay the equivalent of a Macaroni Grill entree to drive to the mall can enjoy the fancy new streetlamps.

Jack Boese, a retired lawyer who lives in Reston, said he is concerned that as toll rates rise, fewer people will take the road and more will clog other roads such as routes 50 and 7.

“They’re going to end up raising the toll rates to the point where the well-off business commuter whose time is really money will be the only one using the toll road and anyone with an option won’t,” Boese said. “Route 7 and Route 50 are going to become parking lots.”

Become?

Money For Phase 2 of Silver Line 'Found,' Maybe Under Sofa Cushions

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood announced late Thursday night that there's now a a final financial deal in place that will allow Phase 2 of the Metro Cherry Blossom Pink Silver Line to extend to Dulles Airport and the particleboard Valhalla beyond it.

“I’m really pleased we were able to keep the project under $3 billion and that we were able to put some additional federal dollars into the project,” LaHood said. “Virginia realized this project is important to Northern Virginia and most important to the region.”

As part of the deal, Fairfax and Loudoun counties will get federal loan assistance for their stake in the project, as will the airports authority. Virginia will also pony up $150 million. The airport station will indeed be built above ground, and private-public partnerships will fund parking garages, various associated parallelograms, and the Rt. 28 station.

“I’m on cloud nine,” LaHood said.

Less happy will be Toll Road commuters, who according to our BFFs at Reston2020 will still get stuck with "more than half of the total Silver Line cost and three-quarters of any cost increases." We're going to have to buy some new couches to dig around for change in!

Joking aside, the only thing that's been more frightening than the escalating costs and fiscal brinksmanship enveloping the Silver Line project is the prospect that the second phase might not be built, planting the terminus of the Silver Line smack dab in the middle of Reston, leading to commuter gridlock, congestion, dogs and cats living together, etc. So, um, count us on cloud five, maybe six.

9/11 Tribute Does Not Lead to Threatened Carmaggedon

Thanks to our Facebook BFFs at the Reston Association, please to be enjoying this very nice photo album of pictures from the giant 9/11 tribute procession of motorcyclists that was supposed to snarl traffic this afternoon, but apparently didn't. Nice to see people cheer them on, and a nice tribute by and for the Reston firefighters who stood at attention as the procession rumbled past.

This and That: A Random Run of the Bases of Reston News

• Man oh man, we love us some schematic drawrings, and this new earth-toned hawtness represents the new $18 million Reston police station and governmental center, which is slated to rise from the parking lot behind the current, considerably blockier building. At a meeting Wednesday, architects explained that the police section of the building is the part that's solid and built into the ground, while the offices for the Hunter Mill District Supervisor and her staff are the glassy bits, symbolizing transparency in government or something awesome like that. The site is in the midst of prime property targeted for development, but there are no plans yet for the land that surround it. Who knows? Maybe they can move the hookah parlor and sex shop lingerie boutique next to the police station; they seem like what urban planners would call "complementary uses."
  
  
• Our BFFs at Reston 2020 read a fancy study on Toll Road rate pricing commissioned by the airports authority and learned a "fun" fact, assuming you find hoarding quarters "fun": Rates could rise to $7 now -- and up to $12 in 2023 -- and revenue would still increase, as even with the fancy Silver Line, some folks will have no recourse but to take our favorite multilane slice of gridlock. Um, yay?
  
  
• Following in the footsteps of an awesome report that solved all of the Lake Anne Village Center's problems forever, a meeting was held last week to discuss new ways to attract businesses and visitors. We'd say something about one new buisiness attracting some attention for the Plaza, but we already used that joke in the first item.
  
  
• Colin Mills is the new president of the Reston Citizens Association. He's also involved in the Master Plan Task Force With An Interminably Long Acronym (MPTFWAILA), so it's good that the group that's been paying the most attention to the Task Force's work is well-represented. Meanwhile, given the slow speed of its work, John Lovaas wonders if the aforementioned Task Force is "trapped in a time warp," though presumably one bereft of good showtunes.
  
  
• The Reston Association Board will allow a Buckthorn Lane resident to once again hunt deer on his property. Let the deerpocalypse begin!
  
  
• Boeing has acquired Reston-based Solutions Made Simple, a cybersecurity contractor for the government involved in, we dunno, strapping encrypted files to dolphins.
  
  
• Finally, some good news: After winning the state Little League championship, the Reston Nationals go to Georgia this weekend, where they will play South Carolina, Florida and West Virginia teams in hopes of making it to the national semifinals. Please to be enjoying this fancy video -- and wish the Nationals luck.
  
  
  

What's the Difference Between an Above-Ground and Underground Metro Station at Dulles? 50 Cents a Trip on the Toll Road

Buried deep in a story about the newest projected toll increases on the Dulles Toll Road is a fun little tidbit: the difference between building an above ground and underground Metro station at Dulles Airport works out to 50 cents per trip on our fun-filled expressway to the wonders of Tysons.

Ultimately, the decision to go underground at the Airport could lead to a .50 cent difference in tolls on the toll road according to a report given to the board.

We're going to use our fancy Fairfax County Public School math skills and assume they meant 50 cents and not one-half of one cent. Otherwise, if all that boring and tunneling and awesome miners helmets with the lights on them and whatnot is so cheap, they should just bury everything, including our beloved fake downtown gritty urban core! That way, Uno's could attract a bustling new clientele of Mole Men.

But we digress. Overall, Metro construction costs will lead to a steady increase in Toll Road fares going forward, as construction (hopefully) continues on the Silver Line:

Toll rates on the Dulles Toll Road may have to jump to $5.50 by 2015 and $10.75 by 2020. Right now, the cost of a full trip on the toll road is $2.

"That's right. That's always been part of the plan -- a regular series of toll rate increases," says Bryan Grote, Financial Advisor to MWAA. "You do have these construction expenditures coming up over the next several years, and that's what has to be financed."

But fear not! The airport authority has, as they say in the movies, a plan:

A group of financial advisors also urged the MWAA board to consider other tolling options on the toll road as a way to increase revenue. For example, charging more for drivers during peak hours, setting up a distance-based toll system and considering putting a toll on the Airport Access Road which is currently free.

The board has agreed to study a new transportation plan over the next six months. A better estimate for toll increases is expected after that time.

Whatever winds up coming of that, we'd better start looking under the couch cushions for quarters now.

The bottom line is that the region needs the Silver Line, and the underground station is what makes the most sense as a long-term investment in an economy that's likely to be driven in large part by IAD. But someone's going to have to figure out a way to pay for this that doesn't just involve a whole pile of quarters, a couple of quarters at a time.

Metro Silver Line: Phase 2 Woes Continue, With Lawsuit, Labor, Funding Threats, and Fancy Report (With Appendices!)

When three different governing bodies hastily hire a graphic designer to fashion a fancy bit of letterhead with all three of their logos on the top of the page, you know someone's going to the woodshed! But Virginia, Fairfax, and Loudoun's repeated refusal to fund the fancy new underground Dulles Airport Metro station is just the tip of the iceberg as far as headaches involving Phase 2 of the fancy Silver Line Metro extension goes.

Cost overruns are leading to calls for audits. And people right-wing anti-labor activists are up in arms about the airport authority's decision to use a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) in Phase 2 of the Metro project, unlike Phase 1, which is being built by wage slaves non-union workers. Union members even crashed a press conference held by Rep. Frank Wolf to protest his opposition to the agreement. Someone had better put those unruly union workers in their place, or they'll start getting swelled heads like those fat cat teachers!

Also, two Virginia men have filed a class action lawsuit against MWAA, saying it has no authority to set toll rates and asking for $130 million in refunded tolls from the rate hikes slated to pay for the Silver Line extension. Oops! It's far from the first lawsuit that's been filed against MWAA or Metro, but this one seems to be based on a premise slightly more compelling than "I don't want to carry a roll of quarters with me every time I want to drive to Tysons."

Finally, our BFFs at Reston 2020 put together their own fancy report, with tables and appendices and everything, that suggests that Toll Road users will pay the brunt of the extra costs -- $752 million of the $1 billion overall increase for Phase 2, concluding that:

The growing costs and delays in building the Silver Line are increasingly putting its full completion in doubt.

It's telling that in this and in other commentaries, people are starting to suggest that Phase 2 might not actually happen. Let's just hope they manage to get the rail out to Wiehle before MWAA's problems take Metro down with them.

So Much for the Big Dig: Air Rights Over Toll Road Deemed Impractical Now, Too Expensive Later

The idea of building fun floating buildings over the Toll Road appears to have hit a bit of a snag. An analysis of air rights development near the Reston Parkway metro station came up with a bit of a conundrum: Current market conditions don't favor building foundations for a deck now, but doing it later once Metro construction is complete will be a lot more expensive.

An analysis of the development potential for air rights over the toll road, completed last week, determined that the commercial real estate market isn't presently strong enough to warrant the millions of dollars of extra investment the idea would require. The analysis concluded that the strategy ought to be shelved "until the regional economic market and business conditions are more favorable."

The study was commissioned by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority after multiple developers -- before the recession began -- inquired about building a deck over the toll road to accommodate new development adjacent to the planned Reston Parkway Metro Station, near the intersection of the toll road and Reston Parkway. The findings were reported to the authority's board of directors last week and the board is expected to act on them this spring.

Our BFFs at Reston 2020 have links to the actual study if you're morbidly curious, but the bottom line is that building the foundation now would cost $34 million, but waiting until later will nearly double the cost to $60 million. But no worries, because the current political climate will ensure that free funding for all sorts of valuable projects will be readily available after the government debt crisis devalues the dollar to somewhere south of the 1980s-era Lira and we have to carry wheelbarrows of the stuff to purchase even one Slim Jim in the future!

Phil Sunderland, vice president and general counsel for the airports authority, said it was encouraging to know that the deck didn't need to be built right now in order for air rights to be an option in the future.

"If we do not do something today, it does not mean that we are dead in the water 20 years from today," he said.

Sunderland compared building a deck speculatively to the authority buying $34 million worth of land, which might qualify as a good investment in some stages in the real estate market, but not at this point. "The conclusion was that the market is probably not going to be there," Sunderland said.

Oh, well. We were tots excited about dining at a Cheesecake Factory overlooking snarled traffic on the Toll Road, but we'll settle for one overlooking snarled traffic on Sunset Hills instead.

Speaking of which, thinking about the space over the Toll Road is a good time to remember we're going to need some more fancy bridges to keep our North Point-to-Hunters Woods runs at Mach 2 above 3 miles per hour, the end.