The Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project is a 23-mile extension of Metrorail from the Orange line in the Falls Church area out the Dulles corridor to serve Tysons Corner, Reston, Herndon, the Route 28 area, Washington Dulles International Airport and Loudoun County. The latest action taken in support of the project was increasing the tolls on the Dulles Toll Road (May 22, 2005) to fund the state share of phase 1, the 11-mile segment to Wiehle Avenue in Reston. The new tolls are 75 cents at the main toll plaza and 50 cents at the ramps. For a daily commuter, the maximum toll increase would be $1.00 per day or $270 per year.

Fairfax County’s 25 percent share is being funded through an increase in property taxes on commercial properties in the Phase 1 tax district and is already being collected. Preliminary Engineering (PE) of Phase 1 is underway and is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2005. PE for Phase 2 is about to begin and is expected to be completed by mid-2006. The Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation (DRPT) leads the project team, which also includes Dulles Transit Partners, LLC and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. The Final Environmental Impact Statement was published in the Federal Register on December 23, 2004, and is available on-line at www.dullesmetro.com.

The rail project is being phased to meet the constraints of the six-year federal transportation funding cycle. Phase I through Tysons Corner out the Dulles Corridor to Wiehle Avenue in Reston is 11 miles long, has five stations, and will be completed by 2011. Phase II will extend from Wiehle Avenue through Herndon to Washington Dulles International Airport and Loudoun County (12 miles and six stations) by 2015.