Dulles Access Road

State Route 267 (SR 267) is a primary state highway in the US state of Virginia. It consists of two end-to-end toll roads – the Dulles Toll Road and Dulles Greenway – as well as the non-tolled Dulles Access Road, which lies in the median of Dulles Toll Road and then extends east to Falls Church. The combined roadway provides a toll road for commuting and a free road for access to Washington Dulles International Airport. The three sections are operated and maintained by separate agencies: Dulles Toll Road and Dulles Access Road are maintained by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA); the Dulles Greenway is owned by TRIP II, a limited partnership, but is maintained by Atlas Arteria, an Australian company which owns the majority stake in the partnership. The Dulles Access Road's median hosts the Silver Line of the Washington Metro between the airport and Tysons.

Dulles Access Road

The Dulles Access Road is a four-lane, highway that runs between the westbound and eastbound roadways of the Dulles Toll Road, along the latter's median. There are no general-access exits from the westbound lanes, and no general-access entrances to the eastbound lanes, with the exception of gated slip ramps to and from the toll road that buses and emergency vehicles can use. The Access Road was built from the Beltway as part of the construction of Dulles Airport, and opened with the airport in 1962. It was extended to I-66 in 1985.

Until 2006, the Dulles Access Road was operated by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) under contract with the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, the owner of the land under both the Access Road and the Dulles Toll Road, and has the unsigned designation of State Route 90004.

The Dulles Airport Access Road can be used only for travel to and from Dulles Airport and other businesses (such as air freight, hotels, and gas stations) on the airport grounds. Although it is illegal to use the Access Road without conducting such "airport business", some commuters evade the toll and the traffic on the Toll Road by taking the Access Road to the airport, then "backtracking" to their exit. For a couple of years prior to the opening of the Dulles Toll Road, VDOT issued special stickers allowing commuters (for a fee) to backtrack legally along the access highway, but these were discontinued when the toll road opened. Drivers can receive a fine and driver's license violations for using the Dulles Access Road illegally. Revenue from the fines is given to the county in which the fine is issued.

Since the opening of the Dulles Toll Road, the only major modification to the Access Road has been the construction of the Silver Line inside the median, and the construction of a flyover exit ramp from the eastbound Access Road to State Route 7. This ramp bypasses congestion associated with the main toll plaza, where traffic from Dulles Airport attempts to exit at Route 7.

Dulles Toll Road

The Dulles Toll Road is an eight-lane, toll road that runs outside the Dulles Access Road.

History

In response to the development along the Dulles Access Road and the number of motorists who backtracked through the airport to commute to outer suburbs, the Virginia Department of Transportation determined a need for a limited access highway to serve points along the Access Road without subjecting airport traffic to congestion. It was built in 1984 by the Virginia Department of Transportation as a toll highway, because conventional funding was not available. The toll road begins just inside the Capital Beltway near West Falls Church at a connector to Interstate 66 to Washington, D.C., travels westward through Fairfax County past Dulles, and terminates at the entrance to the Dulles Greenway, a privately owned toll road that is a continuation of Route 267. Officially, the road is named the Omer L. Hirst – Adelard L. Brault Expressway, in honor of two Virginia state legislators. However, the road is rarely referred to by that name. The speed limit is , and the original construction had two lanes in each direction.

A third lane was built to serve HOV traffic in 1992. For a short period between the end of construction and the start of HOV limits, drivers of single passenger vehicles used the lane and contacted government officials opposing the HOV policy. In response, Congress (which did not have direct control over the highway) passed special legislation prohibiting the imposition of HOV restrictions on the route. As a compromise to resolve the situation, Virginia decided to lift the HOV restriction and to construct a fourth lane in each direction to serve HOV traffic. However, unlike the third lane, officials did not allow non-HOV use at the end of construction in 1998, and avoided a repeat of the controversy. As a practical matter, the right of way could not fit any additional lanes other than the current six in each direction. However, Rep. Frank Wolf again threatened to pass federal legislation prohibiting the fourth lane to be limited to HOV traffic.

In 2005, five companies submitted proposals to VDOT to privatize the toll road which included payments to Virginia that could be used for transportation. In response MWAA made its own proposal to take over operation of the toll road from VDOT, assuming associated debts, and commit to building a rapid transit line in the median. VDOT agreed and, on March 27, 2006, MWAA took over from Virginia the operation of the Dulles Toll Road, including the outstanding debt and the obligation to construct the Silver Line in the median strip of the toll road. The first phase of the Silver Line (east of Reston) opened in July 2014, while the second phase (west of Reston) opened in November 2022.

Description

From the Beltway, motorists exiting onto SR 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 traffic is routed 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 transfer exits are provided from the Access Road to the Toll Road before the Herndon exits, Reston exits, and the Beltway. Access Road traffic to State Route 7 gets a separate exit ramp from those of the Toll Road, and then the two eastbound segments merge before the junction with Interstate 66.

Through December 31, 2013, a main toll plaza west of the Beltway interchange collects a $1.75 toll in both directions for two-axle vehicles. Toll booths located on westbound exit ramps and eastbound entrance ramps collect tolls of $1.00, except at the Route 7 interchange, where tolls are only collected from Route 267 east to Route 7 east. Vehicles with more than two axles are charged higher rates. All tollbooths are equipped with electronic toll collection systems which accept E-ZPass or a compatible system. Fifty cents of each toll is attributable to the financing of the Silver Line to Dulles Airport. On November 14, 2012, the MWAA Board of Direct