The Richmond City Circuit Court has not set the hearing date in the Dulles Toll Road civil action case. The lawsuit filed on behalf of two Fairfax County residents alleges that the transfer of operations of the Dulles Toll Road to the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority is illegal.
The attorneys of Patrick Gray of Springfield and James Nagle of Reston said it was important to file the lawsuit soon after it was proposed that the Toll Road be transferred to the MWAA. "It was important to [file the lawsuit] and for the court to act on it [early]," said Pat McSweeney, the plaintiffs' attorney.
McSweeney said the transfer of the road's operations was illegal partly because MWAA is an unaccountable organization, meaning it is independent of any state or local government. "I don't know why they did what they did," he said about the Virginia Department of Transportation's decision to agree to a transfer of operations. Another alleged illegality is that any toll raises to help finance the Dulles Metrorail Project would constitute a tax. McSweeney said the tolls should be used to pay for the construction of the Dulles Toll Road, and not to pay for another project.
The lawsuit was served to the state's Attorney General's Office, since four of the five defendants — Virginia Secretary of Transportation, Commonwealth Transportation Board, Virginia Commissioner of Transportation and Virginia Department of Transportation — are state entities. David Clemenson of the Attorney General's Office said the office does not comment on pending litigation. "We're reviewing it at this time and have no comment," he said. According to McSweeney, it is expected that the court will set a hearing date within a couple of weeks.