He has told Northern Virginia s incredulous business community that he intends to address the region s multibillion-dollar transportation problems without a tax increase. Gilmore acts like a motorist sitting still at rush hour on Interstate 95. Baliles acts like a horn-blowing guy behind him. Neither one of them is going anywhere because neither of them has looked far enough up the road to see what s causing the backup. Northern Virginia s roads are congested because the region is mired in sprawl.
People drive great distances to work, to shop and to play.
Building more roads is not going to solve the problem as long as people live such scattered lives. The July 14 issue of The New York Times contained a long story about highways in Salt Lake City and Milwaukee. By doubling the width of the interstate to 12 lanes, highway planners figure they will keep traffic moving. Sounds like a recipe for sprawl. In Milwaukee, meanwhile, Mayor John O. Norquist is presiding over the deconstruction of a half-built highway that was going to displace neighborhoods as it cut a gaping hole into the city.