$1 Billion Offer Would Privatize Dulles Toll Road

House Speaker William J. Howell (R-Stafford), who has supported such private-sector proposals, said yesterday that he thinks the toll road idea is "a very solid concept that needs to be explored. It isn't just the Dulles Toll Road. There are a lot of opportunities."

In a June speech to the Fredericksburg Regional Chamber of Commerce, Howell said Virginia should consider selling its largest, most profitable toll roads to private companies.

In the speech, he compared the idea to Chicago's decision to lease its Skyway toll road for $1.8 billion and a Texas plan to allow private firms to build the Trans-Texas Corridor for $1.2 billion in exchange for the rights to operate the toll project for 50 years.

The downside to the Dulles Toll Road proposal is that Virginia would lose a moneymaker for the next half-century, and some state leaders questioned why the state would relinquish that money. Others said Virginia should raise the money it needs by selling bonds and keeping control of the cash generated by the toll road.

About 200,000 vehicles a day use the Dulles Toll Road. Toll rates, which range from 50 to 75 cents, would continue to be controlled by the state. In fiscal 2005, which ended June 30, the tolls generated a $28.5 million surplus.

Although money from the deal could enable Virginia to pay its share of at least the Tysons phase of what eventually would be a rail line through Dulles International Airport, the additional money would not guarantee the project's construction.

Under the financing plan for the first phase, half the money would come from the federal government, a quarter from Dulles Toll Road collections and other state revenue and the rest from a tax on commercial property owners along the train route.

But cost estimates for the first phase, which would run from West Falls Church through Tysons Corner, rose 60 percent last month to $2.4 billion. The higher price tag jeopardizes federal approval because cost-effectiveness is a key factor in deciding whether to approve projects.