Virginia State Highway 267
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Virginia Route 267 is composed of three sections, the Dulles Toll Road, the Dulles Greenway and the Dulles Airport Access Road. The eastbound and westbound lanes of the Dulles Toll Road straddle the Dulles Airport Access Road, which is not signed as Route 267 but shares a corridor and ramps, and is officially considered part of 267.[1] (http://www.virginiadot.org/infoservice/resources/route-index-07012003.pdf)
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Dulles Airport Access Road
The Dulles Airport Access Road is a 4-lane highway that runs parallel to the Toll Road along its median. It is used only for travel to and from Washington Dulles International Airport. There are no general-access exits from the west-bound lanes, and no general-access entrances to the east-bound lanes (with the exception of gated slip ramps to the toll road that buses and emergency vehicles can use). The Access Road was built as part of the construction of Dulles Airport, and opened with the airport in 1962.
Dulles Toll Road
The Dulles Toll Road (Virginia Route 267) is an 8-lane, 14-mile (22.7 km) highway in Northern Virginia. It was built in 1984 by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT). It begins just inside the Capital Beltway near Falls Church at a connector to Interstate 66 to Washington, DC, travels westward through Fairfax County past Dulles Airport, and terminates at the entrance to the Dulles Greenway, a privately owned toll road. Officially, the road is named the Omer L. Hirst - Adelard L. Brault Expressway, in honor of two notable but obscure Virginia state legislators. However, the road is rarely referred to by that name.
From the Capital Beltway, motorists exiting onto VA 267 toward Dulles Airport must choose between lanes marked Airport Traffic Only and To All Local Exits; the Airport Traffic Only lanes lead to the two westbound lanes of the Access Road. Eastbound, it works a bit differently. Dulles-originating traffic can choose destinations between Herndon exits (putting them on the mainline Toll Road) or further on (starting them on the Access Road), and a transfer exit is provided from the Access Road to the Toll Road before the Reston exits; Access Road traffic to Route 7, the Beltway and I-66 gets separate exit ramps from those of the Toll Road.
The Dulles Toll Road is generally congested during rush hour, while the Access Road usually flows freely; this has led a few frustrated Herndon/Reston-area commuters to "backtrack" through the airport during their commute (morning: go west to the airport before heading east toward DC; evening: go all the way out to the airport then loop back east home), dodging both the toll and the traffic. This is illegal without conducting "airport business" of some sort and enforcement efforts and penalties were increased by authorities to counter the practice.
A main toll plaza west of the Beltway interchange collects a 50 cent toll in both directions. In addition, toll booths are located on westbound exit ramps and eastbound entrance ramps, which collects tolls of 25 or 35 cents. All tollbooths are equipped with both the Smart Tag (Virginia) and E-ZPass (Maryland to Maine) electronic toll collection systems.
HOV-2 restrictions are in effect during weekday rush hours, 6:30 to 9:00am eastbound and 4:00 to 6:30pm westbound, limiting the left lane to vehicles with two or more passengers. Motorcycles and "clean fuel" vehicles (hybrid and compressed natural gas) are exempt from HOV restrictions in Virginia, allowing single-passenger vehicles of those types to use the lanes as well.
Dulles Greenway
The Dulles Greenway is a privately-owned limited-access highway in Northern Virginia, running for 14 miles northwest from the end of the Dulles Toll Road to the Leesburg bypass (US 15/VA 7). The speed limit is 65 mph.
The road was privately built and is not a public asset. The current owner is "Toll Road Investors Partnership II", which is a consortium of the Bryant/Crane Family LLC, and Kellogg Brown & Root.
The road was envisioned as early as the 1970s, when new residents were attracted to Loudoun County because of the relatively low cost of real estate. The road was completed and opened in 1995 and is often cited as a success story of public-private partnership. Tolls for two-axle vehicles are a maximum of $2.90 during rush hour and $2.50 otherwise, with discounts granted for Smart Tag customers. Some area commuters find the tolls to be expensive and use the alternative (free) routes, Virginia Routes 7 and 28, both of which are generally more congested.
See also
External links
- VDOT: Virginia Toll Facilities FAQ (http://www.virginiadot.org/comtravel/faq-toll.asp)
- Smart Tag - Dulles Toll Road (https://www.smart-tag.com/dulles_toll_road.htm)
- Dulles Greenway website (http://www.dullesgreenway.com/)
- History of Washington Dulles International Airport (http://www.metwashairports.com/Dulles/history.htm) (see the section on "Access Roads")