Dulles Toll Road's $54m open road tolling plans - new details

Virginia DOT was planning to use an existing contract with TransCore to implement about $54m of toll system upgrades to bring open road tolling (ORT) to the Dulles Toll Road in the Washington DC metro area. However a spokesman for the new DTR owners, Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) says they have the option to issue an open Request For Proposals to compete the project.

They haven't made any decision, he tells us, on whether TransCore is granted the job or whether it gets competed.

Most spectacular feature of the project will be new gantry pairs carrying equipment for three open road toll lanes in each direction at the mainline toll plaza near Tysons Corner, a mile (1.6km) west of the Capital Beltway.

They don't plan to widen the footprint of the toll plaza as a whole so one or two of the existing five cash toll lanes each direction will almost certainly go.

The exact plan for the redesigned mainline plaza isn't complete.

Design is complicated by bypass lanes linked with ramp toll points at a nearby interchange with Spring Hill Rd/International Drive.

The existing plaza operations building will continue to be needed.

At present on the left of the pavement through the plaza area there are in each direction two transponder-only express lanes separated by soft delineators designed to prevent lane straddling since the RFID system is lane constrained. These are signed for 45mph (72km/hr).

When open road tolling is implemented the speed through the ORT lanes will be the same 65mph (105km/hr) as in the travel lanes of the pike.

The project also involves adding several new toll lanes at the nine pairs of ramp plazas so that each has a minimum of one dedicated transponder and one cash lane. Hardware will be upgraded and signing improved and a new toll system software developed.

Some new toll booths are contemplated.

Transitions will be modified and improved in places with some repaving and restriping.

The estimated cost breakdown is shown nearby with total for the project $53.6m.

MWAA proposes using $9.5m of their own money and have applied for a TIGER grant (federal 'stimulus' funds) for $44.1m.

No word on whether the project can proceed without the federal 'wildlife' grant.

TOLLROADSnews 2009-10-08