They might not be chaining themselves to doors or laying across roadways, but certain Virginia residents have resorted to protest in response to a toll increase along the Dulles Toll Road in Loudoun County, Va.

The toll, which increased by 25 cents yesterday, is being funneled toward paying for Virginia’s share of the $4 billion Dulles Rail Project, which seeks to extend Metrorail’s Orange line out to Dulles International Airport. Landowners Opposed to Wasteful Expenditures on Rail, known simply as LOWER, has asked that motorists boycott the Dulles Toll Road one day a week to protest the increases and the plans to extend the rail line. LOWER claims that extension would do nothing to alleviate current traffic in the area, would force tolls to remain on that stretch of road until 2037, and would cost more than the preferred alternative — the addition of individual lanes to the Toll Road and Interstate 66.

The Dulles rail extension is slated to be completed in two phases — by 2011, an Orange Line spur would extend from the West Falls Church station through Tysons Corner and on to Reston, and by 2015 the extension will encompass Herndon, Dulles International Airport and beyond. A total of 11 new stations over the course of 23.1 miles are to be built. Proponents of the plan claim it will lessen congestion in the area and offer commuters alternative routes to and from home, work, and shopping.

>>Boycott Tysons Corner on the rail extension.