Dulles Toll Road rate plan finalized, could include tweaks to ramp pricing

WASHINGTON — Dulles Toll Road rates will jump in January and could see more changes in 2020 under final plans that have been slightly revised following public comments this summer.

A proposed action plan just made available by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority ahead of a final vote by the authority board would stick to plans to raise the mainline toll plaza rate from $2.50 to $3.25 and to raise ramp tolls from $1 to $1.50. It will be the first increase since 2014.

The change to that long-planned increase could come at the Spring Hill Road or Virginia Route 7 ramps in 2020. Changing toll rates for the Spring Hill ramp or adding new tolls at the Route 7 ramps that are not currently tolled could help cut down on the number of people who go out of their way to avoid the tolls, the plan said. The toll increase is expected to cut down on the number of drivers on the road.

Any of those changes would require additional study and cost reviews.

The airports authority is also promising to work with Loudoun County, Fairfax County and the Virginia Department of Transportation to analyze potential traffic issues on roads throughout the corridor.

Unless there are changes to ramp toll rates in 2020, the next toll increase after Jan. 1, 2019, is planned for Jan. 1, 2023. At that time, tolls are planned to increase to about $4 at the mainline plaza and $2 at ramps. Tolls would increase about $1.75 at the mainline plaza and 50 to 75 cents at ramps every five years or so after that.

Trucks and other large vehicles are charged more than cars and other two-axle vehicles are at both the mainline plaza and ramps based on the number of axles on the vehicle.

The airports authority’s Dulles Corridor Advisory Committee is due to be briefed next week on the final toll-rate-increase proposal.

The authority’s board is due to formally approve the toll increases Nov. 14.