dulles toll road

Decisions on the future of the toll-financed Phase 2 of Dulles Metrorail project now rest with Loudoun County, closer-in Fairfax County having given the go-ahead.

Fairfax county has given the OK to Phase 2 of the Dulles Rail project the financing of which is 75% on the toll revenues of the Dulles Toll Road. A county board of 'supervisors' (councillors) meeting this week voted unanimously to confirm the County's participation in the estimated $2.7 billion second half of the project which has generated concern about whether $2 billion of toll revenue bonds are serviceable.

In Norfolk there's last minute pressure to defer a financial close on the Elizabeth River tunnels toll concession with the Macquarie/Skanska partnership. And in northern Virginia Fairfax County and Loudoun County are being pressed to defer support for Phase 2 of the Silver Line Metrorail project that is dependent for financing on Dulles Toll Road tolls.

The recently retired chairman of Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) Charles Snelling murdered his ailing wife Adrienne, then killed himself this week, according to a statement from the family. Mrs Snelling, 81, suffered Altzheimer's disease.

Virginia governor Bob McDonnell has appointed Todd Stottlemyer a leading northern Virginia business executive to a vacant position that Virginia has on the board of directors of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA or 'emwah') - operator of the Dulles Toll Road since November 1 2008.

The shifts in traffic and revenue forecasts and in assumed toll rates of successive reports from Wilbur-now CDM Smith are dramatically portrayed in graphs compiled by Terry Maynard, an economist working for the Reston Citizens Association. Maynard took the numbers from three separate forecasts by:

- Wilbur Smith Associates for Virginia DOT when it operated the tollroad and was looking for toll increases to support work on the road: 'WSA 2005'

Jonathan Pagan of CDM Smith defends the company's forecasting record in a letter to operators of the Dulles Toll Road, saying critic Terry Maynard and the Reston Citizens Association had "significant factual inaccuracies" in their critique of traffic and revenue forecasts for the Dulles Rail project.

Operators of the Dulles Toll Road in the northern Virginia suburbs of Washington DC cited new consultants forecasts that the toll road will support funding about 60% of the $5+ billion Dulles Rail line they are building.

Wilbur Smith Associates (WSA) record of traffic and revenue forecasting is blasted in a study done by a retired federal government economist Terry Maynard for the Reston Citizens Association (CRA) in northern Virginia. The report supports a call for an independent review of the WSA/CDMSmith traffic and revenue forecast of the Dulles Toll Road.

Virginia's Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli says he's urging state legislators not to appropriate another $150m for Phase 2 of the Dulles Rail project sponsored by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA).