A prominent critic of the multibillion-dollar plan to extend Metrorail to Dulles International Airport has pitched his own solution to the area's transportation quagmire.
Under a proposal by Chris Walker, a Reston-based developer who has fought the rail plan, his company would widen Interstate 66 and the Dulles Toll Road between the District and the airport, essentially adding more space for cars along the 27-mile route, which is one of the most congested in the region.
Walker said he would pay for the project by charging a toll that would vary with the time of day on some of the lanes, while other lanes would be free. In this way, drivers willing to pay would save time by traveling in the restricted lanes with fewer cars.
The Virginia Department of Transportation is considering three similar proposals from private outfits for stretches of the Capital Beltway and I-95.
"I'm really fed up that no other real solution has emerged for what is an extremely important transportation corridor," Walker said. "The rail solution will not reduce congestion. It's frankly a waste of money."
The idea was quickly attacked by Arlington County Board Vice Chairman Chris Zimmerman as "a PR tactic" instead of a solution to gridlock. He said the roadway doesn't have enough room to accommodate new lanes for cars in addition to the rail lines. Much of I-66 inside the Beltway is two lanes in each direction.
"This is not a project," Zimmerman said. "This is an effort to kill Dulles rail. Physically and financially, you can only do one or the other" -- rail or widening the highway.
Zimmerman, a member of the Metro board, is a proponent of rail, which he describes as a means of moving a greater number of people in the corridor.
Walker announced his plan at a news conference last week after having written to VDOT officials declaring his intention to file a proposal, the cost of which he estimated at $200 million or more. It could be built within 18 months of its approval. The rail line between Falls Church, Tysons Corner, Reston and the airport would cost an estimated $4 billion.
Engineering for the toll lane project is clearly in its early stages. In the letter to VDOT, Walker requested drawings of the existing roadways to assist in the application's preparation.
One key issue, for example, is how I-66 could be widened as it passes under the Lynn Street tunnel in Arlington. Walker acknowledged that finding room in that area might be one of the project's biggest challenges.
"If you're talking about adding lanes on either side of 66, you've got a lot of issues to deal with," Zimmerman said.
Another obstacle is political. Arlington has objected strenuously to previous plans to add lanes to I-66 there.
Gerald E. Connolly (D), Board of Supervisors chairman in Fairfax County, through which most of Walker's proposal would run, said he would remain "agnostic" about the idea until he saw additional details.
A spokeswoman for VDOT, Joan Morris, said, "Nothing is going to put the brakes on the Dulles rail project."
She added, however, that the state wants to hear proposals from private companies interested in building roads.
"When you have no money, it certainly is intriguing to VDOT as a possible solution," she said. "We have to be looking at new and different ways to fund these projects. The money just isn't there anymore, and the public-private initiatives are a viable solution."
In his letter to the state, Walker said he does not intend to ask for any state, federal or local support beyond the available right of way and revenue from tolls.
"It's a serious proposal, the only one on the table that solves the disaster of I-66," Walker said. "We're proposing a market-based solution, not a bureaucrat-based solution."
