Transportation engineers say the new roads are necessary.
Some business leaders in both cities argue that the highways are a logical response to increasing traffic, and will boost economic development. However, critics are questioning the expense, and usefulness, of the highways. They contend that building new roads to accomodate traffic is like loosening one's belt to deal with obesity. Nowhere in America, they note, have more roads solved a city's traffic problems. Instead, they cause sprawl, lead eventually to worse congestion, and produce severe economic dislocation as public investment, new business centers, and housing are directed to the far edges of existing communities.