Report Finds Little Benefit In D.C. Congestion Plans

New Potomac River crossings and a new Washington, D.C.-area expressway aimed at easing traffic congestion would bring more development and more traffic, according to a just-released technical analysis commissioned by Environmental Defense and other groups. Any benefits would be small and be outweighed by the costs, the report concludes. The executive summary of the report, "More Sprawl, More Traffic, No Relief," summarizes the conclusions: "The study concludes that either of [two] alignments ... would spur sprawl, traffic, and pollution growth, especially in the western portion of the region, while failing to relieve traffic problems on many existing roads. ... [A]verage county level traffic congestion would increase by 5 percent in Prince William, 4 percent in Montgomery, 3 percent in Frederick, and 1 percent in Fairfax, compare to the No Build scenario. ... Under either alignment, inner suburban and urban jurisdictions would experience some reduction in traffic due to declining economic and travel activity caused by loss of job and housing growth."

Thanks to Dateline APA