Virginia State Route 267

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For the former State Route 267, see State Route 267 (Virginia 1933-1951).

State Route 267

Length:

28.68 mi^[1]^[2] (46.16 km)

Formed:

1982

West end:

US 15/SR 7 in Leesburg

Major
junctions:

SR 28 at Dulles Airport

SR 7100 near Herndon

I-495 near Tysons Corner

East end:

I-66 near Falls Church

Virginia Routes
< I-264		SR 269 >
Primary - Secondary - History

State Route 267 is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia. It consists of two end-to-end toll roads - the Dulles Toll Road and Dulles Greenway - as well as the Dulles Access Road,^[3] which lies in the median of the Dulles Toll Road. The combined roadway provides a toll road for commuting and a free road for Dulles Airport access. The three sections are owned by three separate agencies: the Dulles Toll Road by the Virginia Department of Transportation, the Dulles Greenway by a private consortium, and the Dulles Access Road by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.

1 Dulles Access Road
2 Dulles Toll Road
3 Dulles Greenway
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Dulles Access Road

The Dulles Access Road is a four-lane, 13.65-mile^[1]^[2] (21.97 km) highway that runs "inside" the Dulles Toll Road along its median. There are no general-access exits from the west-bound lanes, and no general-access entrances to the east-bound 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 as part of the construction of Dulles Airport, and opened with the airport in 1962.

The Dulles Access Road is operated by the Virginia Department of Transportation under contract with the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, the owner of the land under the Dulles Toll Road.[1] 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 illegal, some commuters evade the toll and moreover the traffic on the Toll Road by taking the Access Road to the airport, then "backtrack" to their exit. For a couple of years prior to the opening of the Dulles Toll Road, VDOT issued special stickers for a fee allowing commuters to backtrack legally along the access highway, but these were discontinued when the toll road opened.[2]

[edit] Dulles Toll Road

The main toll plaza of the Dulles Toll Road

A closer view of the electronic and traditional lanes

The Dulles Toll Road is an eight-lane, 16.15-mile^[1]^[2] (25.99 km) toll road. It was built in 1984 by the Virginia Department of Transportation. It begins just inside the Capital Beltway near Falls Church at a connector to Interstate 66 to Washington, DC, travels westward through Fairfax County past Dulles Airport, and terminates at the entrance to the Dulles Greenway, a privately owned toll road. 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 55 mph (90 km/h).

From the Capital 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.

A main toll plaza west of the Beltway interchange collects a 75 cent toll in both directions. In addition, toll booths are located on westbound exit ramps and eastbound entrance ramps, which collects tolls of 50 cents; although at the Route 7 interchange, tolls are only collected from Route 267 east to Route 7 east. All tollbooths are equipped with both the Smart Tag (Virginia) and E-ZPass (Maryland to Maine) electronic toll collection systems.

HOV-2 restrictions are in effect during weekday rush hours, 6:30 to 9:00am eastbound and 4:00 to 6:30pm westbound, limiting the left lane to vehicles with two or more passengers between State Route 28 and the main toll plaza. Motorcycles and "clean fuel" vehicles (hybrid and compressed natural gas) are exempt from HOV restrictions in Virginia, allowing single-passenger vehicles of those types to use the lanes as well.

[edit] Dulles Greenway

The Dulles Greenway is a privately owned toll road in Northern Virginia, running for 12.53 miles^[1] (20.17 km) northwest from the end of the Dulles Toll Road to the Leesburg Bypass (U.S. Route 15/State Route 7). Although privately owned, the highway is also part of SR 267. The speed limit is 65 mph (105 km/h).

The main toll plaza of the Dulles Greenway

The road was privately built and is not a public asset. The current owner is "Toll Road Investors Partnership II" (TRIP II), which is a consortium of the Bryant/Crane Family LLC, and Kellogg Brown & Root (KB&R). On August 31, 2005, Australian firm Macquarie Infrastructure Group announced that they have paid $533 million to TRIP II to acquire its 86.7% ownership of the Greenway, and is negotiating with KB&R for the remaining ownership rights.[3]

The road was envisioned as early as the 1970s, when new residents were attracted to Loudoun County because of the relatively low cost of real estate. The road was completed and opened in 1995 and is often cited as a success story of public-private partnership. Tolls for two-axle vehicles are a maximum of $3.20. The Greenway is also one of two routes where a subscription membership (exclusive to Smart Tag) allows for an additional discount. Some area commuters find the tolls to be expensive and use the alternative (free) routes, State Route 7 and State Route 28, both of which are generally more congested.^{[citation needed]}

Currently, the Greenway is six lanes from the mainline toll plaza until the Claiborne Parkway interchange, and four lanes from Claiborne Parkway to the Leesburg Bypass. Construction is underway to widen the remainder of the highway to 6 lanes.