Heather Curtis
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON (WMAL) – The tolls for solo drivers on I-66 inside the Beltway at rush hour are out of control and need to be capped according to Republican members of the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission, which receives the majority of the revenue for the tolls according to commission member and Loudoun County Board of Supervisors member Ron Meyer.
It made national news when some solo drivers were charged up to $40 tolls to ride I-66 during the morning rush hour this week.
“This was sold to us on false pretenses. This needs to be re-thought. The way that they’re implementing it is totally out of sync with how they sold this project,” said Meyer.
At a meeting Thursday the commission will consider a resolution to immediately lower, cap and reconfigure the tolling system to make it “affordable, appropriate and reasonable.” He said they will have to figure out what toll is appropriate, but said $5 would be much more reasonable.
The resolution also calls for the previous restricted periods to be reinstated. Rush hour used to be considered from the hours of 6:30 to 9 a.m. headed toward Rosslyn and 4 to 6:30 p.m. going to the Beltway, but this week those hours changed to 5:30 to 9:30 a.m. and 3 to 7 p.m.
Transportation Secretary Aubrey Layne said this week nobody has to pay the toll. People can carpool and use I-66 inside the Beltway for free at rush hour, or take public transit according to Lane.
“Unfortunately we’ve seen some basically totally tone deaf and unresponsive statements from Aubrey Layne and the people that represent VDOT and the Department of Transportation, so I’m not sure we’re going to see change unless we beat the drum on this,” Meyer said.
Meyer said taxpayers already paid to build the road and shouldn’t now be charged outrageous tolls.
If the commission votes in favor of the resolution Thursday, Meyer said it would send a very strong message.
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