Vogel joins call for reversal of toll hikes

Item by Chris Graham

Jill Holtzman Vogel joined Congressman Frank Wolf and two fellow General Assembly candidates yesterday at a press conference held to raise issue with the State Corporation Commission’s decision to approve a hike in tolls on a private toll road in Northern Virginia.
Vogel, the Republican nominee in the 27th Senate District, said if the SCC does not reverse the decision on the 60-percent hike in tolls on the Dulles Toll Road, “then we are left with no alternative but to take back the road for Virginia drivers.”
“In any plan to improve infrastructure through public private partnerships, the public must be protected through a system of checks and balances, and the SCC is obligated to that task,” Vogel said. “In this case, the best interest of the public has been forfeited in favor of excess profits. Legislation to end this kind of price gouging will be my first priority in the General Assembly.”
It was announced at the press conference that Attorney General Bob McDonnell has agreed to launch a review of the financial records of the owner of the toll road, Macquarie Infrastructure Group, and its affiliates as those records relate to the SCC approval.