The Observer Newspapers | Council Discuss Traffic Congestion Due to Rising Tolls

Nov. 20, 2009

Council Discuss Traffic Congestion Due to Rising Tolls

By Leah M. Kosin

Special to the Observer

The Herndon Town Council will decide next Tuesday whether to request a public dialogue to discuss a fairer toll structure for the Dulles Greenway.

The matter was discussed at its work session earlier this week. If the Council moves forward with the public dialogue request it will ask the Dulles Greenway, Toll Road Investors Partnership II and the Virginia State Corporation Commission if the process could be completed in the next two years. It could also help examine new ways to make the speed and cost of toll collection more efficient.

Senior Project Planner Kay Roberston discussed the town's position on toll rates on the Dulles Greenway and the impact it's making on local streets within the Town. According to Robertson, the toll road and the Dulles Greenway are part of a significant transportation network in Fairfax and Loudoun counties to employment centers within the Herndon and Reston areas.

Since the tolls on the Greenway have increased the town has seen a significant increase in the amount of traffic. The tolls are based on a single trip one-way directional pricing. Most of this traffic, Robertson said, has an origin or destination somewhere other than the town limits. Since the Greenway is intended to provide a vital link in the regional transportation network and to alleviate congestion, the Town Council discussed a variety of steps to take.

"This notion of trying to create a dialogue between the Greenway owner, the State Corporation Commission and the people who are involved with that service, I think it's an excellent thing to do," Husch said. He suggested additional alternatives when it comes to charging drivers at the tolls, while still being able to keep money in the owner's pocket.

Using the Pennsylvania Turnpike as an example Husch said the price should be based on the distance driven on the Greenway. "You would get on the turnpike and at the booth you would get a card with a hole punched in it to determine where you got on," Husch said. "When you get to where you are going you give them a card and they compute a price for how far you went."

Husch said this could be done using a Smart Tag but it would require additional sensors at all of the exits. Not to mention some heavy-duty calculations to find out where the driver got on and got off, he said. Robertson said there are technologies in Canada and Texas where all cars do have a sensor on them, as well as the roads, in order to determine this information.

"The other alternative is to have a toll plaza, just prior to every exit," he added. "I don't think that's realistic. I don't think that's going to happen."

Coucilman Bill Tirrell said he liked the idea of the proposed resolution and asked for Town staff to look into whether Leesburg would like to participate. "The more interest we generate, the quicker the owners may respond," Tirrell said.

Councilman Dave Kirby also expressed interest during the discussion and said the more traffic that can be forced on the Greenway rather than in the town, the better. "More cars on the Greenway will hopefully keep toll prices down," he laughed.

In other news, Town Attorney Richard Kauffman discussed a resolution that would approve a legal services contract with Reed Smith LLP to provide legal and lobbyist services to support the Town's 2010 Legislative Program bills introduced before the 2010 General Assembly.

According to Kauffman, the contract would hire William G. Thomas and Edward A. Mullen, part-time, for at a flat fee of $22,500 for the duration of the assembly session. The contract provides for a 30-day cancellation notice by either party, and reimbursement of reasonable, customary and necessary costs.

The Town Council also discussed the following:

• A resolution ratifying a memorandum of agreement between the Town of Herndon Police Department and the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement to allow trained Herndon police officers to perform certain functions of an immigration officer and to enforce elements of federal immigration law in the course of normal law enforcement duties.

The purpose of this collaboration is to enhance the safety and security of communities by focusing resources on identifying criminal aliens who pose a threat to public safety or a danger to the community and processing them for removal. According to Kauffman, the program was put into place in 2007 under a memorandum with ICE and has been doing well ever since.

• An ordinance amending Article VI, Noise, Chapter 26, Environment, Herndon Town Code, to remove the reasonable person standards as it relates to regulating noise.

The Town Council will vote on the resolutions as well as a number of zoning ordinance text amendments next Tuesday during a public hearing, scheduled for 7 p.m.