Top 16: Tornado Hits, Smithsonian Fraud, School Rankings, Dulles Tolls and Mark Wahlberg

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. …

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McDonnell: Low Bids Will Mean Lower Tolls

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 …

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Fairfax County Could Sell Air Rights to Fight Tolls

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. “…

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Bob Bruhns

11:08 pm on Wednesday, March 27, 2013

From Pg.3 (continued): VDOT owns the property at or around these stations and would like to explore whether development at, around, and or atop these stations would make business sense, be feasible, integrate with local land use/transportation plans, and meet the local needs. According to the Fairfax County Comprehensive Plan, the vision is to transform Tysons Corner from suburban office park and…   more ›

Beulah Road Bridge to Be Reduced to One Lane

Project to widen bridge over Dulles Toll Road and add pedestrian facilities begins Friday, creating a single-lane traffic pattern through May 31.

A $3.4 million project to improve the Beulah Road bridge begins Friday, reducing the crossing over the Dulles Toll Road to a single lane for the next three months. On Friday, crews will install two temporary traffic signals on either end of the bridge on Beulah Road, which will direct traffic until the project is completed. Michael Gleasman, a Virginia Department of Transportation engineer, said the bridge is being widened to improve shoulder width and add pedestrian facilities.   The bridge, which opened in September 1963, has never seen such a major overhaul; crews did routine maintenance repair, like deck patching, overlay and replacing elastometric joints, in 1996, Gleasman said. As it stands, the bridge has no pedestrian facilities. …

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Dulles Toll Road Rates Rise Again Tuesday

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 …

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Crash Closes Part of Dulles Toll Road

Eastbound lanes of Rt. 267 should be reopened shortly

A three-car crash Thursday morning on the Dulles Toll Road closed Eastbound lanes at the tail end of the morning rush hour. Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Spokeswoman Kimberly Gibbs said some people involved in the crash, which occurred near Wolf Trap, were injured, but none of the injuries were life-threatening. It's unclear how many people were involved. Authorities are reopening the Eastbound lanes as of 10:04 a.m. Traffic should be able to pass shortly, Gibbs said.

Will MWAA Vote For Another Toll Road Raise?

Board expected to raise Dulles Toll Road fees in vote Wednesday.

Residents Gain Momentum Against Tysons Ramp

Civic associations collect nearly 600 signatures opposing ramps through Tysons stream valley

Nearly four months ago, two of the major Tysons-area neighborhood and civic associations rallied against a proposal to put a highway ramp through one of the "last standing green spaces" in what will become Fairfax County's future urban center. Now, the groups and more than 15 others are out to prove the option should have never been considered in the first place — and they aren't going down without a fight. The groups, united under the name Tysons Forest Coalition, have 574 signatures on a petition opposing ramps and road extensions through the stream valley tucked in the pocket between Route 7 and the Dulles Toll Road. They're hoping for hundreds more. Putting a road through the area is not only environmentally unsound, but also goes …

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Navid Roshan

9:17 pm on Sunday, September 30, 2012

No it doesn't Freddie. Go look at what this plan is routed through the forest. This plan will reduce the viability of an urban core by continuing to subsidize commuters from Loudoun and increasing access from the outside while prioritizing them over the residents and multi-modal travel, all elements that are against the principals of urban planning. Either way, all of the county and state …   more ›

Users Talk Tolls at Reston MWAA Meeting

Airports Authority collecting public opinion, but will it be enough to control rising Dulles Toll Road rates?

Citizens came to South Lakes High School in Reston Wednesday night to talk about tolls and there were plenty of people there from the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) there to listen. Wednesday night's event was the second of three public meetings organized by the group that oversees the Dulles Toll Road and the construction of the Metrorail's Silver Line. But will public opinion be enough to slow the rise in toll road rates?   Under the toll rate proposal, the combined main plaza and ramp tolls, currently $2.25 for 2-axle vehicles, would increase to $2.75 in 2013, $3.50 in 2014 and $4.50 in 2015 in order to help fund the construction of the Silver Line Phase 2. Advocacy group Reston2020 predicts tolls for area motorists …

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LTE: Stop Tollmageddon

One reader suggests Virginia should revoke MWAA’s operating permit for the Dulles Toll Road.

There are two things that can be done to avoid the problems ahead for commuters and residents around Route 7 between Sterling and Tysons Corner. The first solution: Virginia must retake the Dulles Toll Road (DTR). Secretary Sean Connaughton on April 14, 2012 said the state was so unhappy with the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority that it would rather finish building the Silver Line itself. “We are actively evaluating whether we can take the project over. These guys [MWAA] are a disaster,” Connaughton said. “We’re at the point, quite honestly, where we think we could potentially do it better, cheaper, faster.” The Virginia Department of Transportation controls the Operating Permit for the DTR and could revoke that permit based on a…

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