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I am still trying to visualize this project. It would seem that one of the major difficulties would be crossing the interstates to get to Dulles. Once that was done, however, I don’t see the problem with aboveground transport to Dulles itself.

That's part of Phase I and is already well underway. From an engineering perspective it's pretty impressive, the flyovers are being built using these big blue and yellow assembly apparatuses that will slide from one pier to the next while lifting the horizontal segments into place.

The BIG issue here is that while the rail extension to Tysons (and maybe out to Reston Town Center) is a pretty good idea to draw people out to two of the larger of DC's "satellite cities" (revenue driven into those areas by people taking Metro will recoup the costs in something like 5-7 years), the extension beyond Reston to Dulles is just dumb. There's no reason for it other than to get people to/from the airport using rail.

The Dulles Toll Road is really two separate roads. The first is the Toll Road, which charges tolls (go figure). However there is an inner road that's called the "Access Road" that doesn't charge tolls and only permits cars/trucks/cabs going to/from the airport ... and busses running from the suburbs into the city or other mass transit hubs.

That road is seriously underutilized, and a much simpler and more cost effective solution would be to put more on/off ramps to it and use busses to carry the people.

That's how I currently commute. I drop my car at the Herndon/Monroe Park and Ride, catch a 980 or 950 express bus to West Falls Church Metro. Biggest problem is that the first on-ramp to the Access Road is below Hunter Mill so many days it takes 30-45 minutes to cover the 15 miles between Herndon/Monroe and WFC Metro. Solution: build another frikkin' on-ramp from the Park and Ride to the Access Road.

So instead ... when the Silver Line goes in I'm probably going to see a 60-70% increase in my daily commuting costs (additional $5 for parking, which I don't pay now since parking is free, plus an additional $2 or so above the still-cheap bus fares) PLUS with all the Metro stops between Herndon/Monroe and the junction with the Orange Line it'll probably take 15-20 minutes LONGER than now (which is already 15-20 minutes too long since the busses have to sit in Toll Road traffic before hitting the Access Road.

Did they ever widen I-66 west of the Beltway? I lived up there in the late 1980s in various places around Fairfax County, and remember I-66 being a two-lane parking lot in the mornings and afternoons. Then it crossed the Beltway and became HOV-only (yes, folks, THE ENTIRE INTERSTATE is HOV-restricted between I-495 and Washington during rush hour) and it was empty. Totally empty.

}:-)4