While certainly not good news, there's some silver lining to this report that Craig Richardson (an agent in my office) discusses below regarding traffic congestion in the D.C. and Northern Virginia areas:
- The traffic congestion points to the fact that our region is growing -- people are coming to the area.
- Some of the congestion is temporary, as Craig points out, due to the current construction surrounding Tysons Corner and the Metro extension.
- Finally, the completion of the Metro extension over the next few years should alleviate some of the road traffic as public transportation will reach out further into the Northern Virginia suburbs, and eventually to Dulles Airport.
Source: Flickr.com
For those living in and around Fairfax County, it should come as no surprise that we have made the list of one of the most traffic congested areas in the county. According to WTOP, Fairfax County ranked 13 in a national "ranking of roads where drivers tend to go 70 percent less than the speed limit." As the article notes, Fairfax County made the list primarily because of the Tysons Corner project.
In addition to Fairfax County, other Metropolitan D.C. areas making the top 25 raking include Washington, D.C. (7th), Alexandria, VA (9th), and Arlington, VA (22nd). The complete list is as follows:
- Seattle -- 43 percent of roads congested
- Los Angeles -- 38 percent of roads congested
- Chicago -- 37 percent of roads congested
- Montgomery County, Md. -- 37 percent of roads congested
- San Francisco -- 35 percent of roads congested
- New York -- 31 percent of roads congested
- Washington, D.C. -- 30 percent of roads congested
- San Jose, Calif. -- 29 percent of roads congested
- Alexandria, Va. -- 28 percent of roads congested
- Oakland, Calif. (Alameda County) -- 28 percent of roads congested
- Atlanta, Ga. (Cobb County) -- 27 percent of roads congested
- Boston -- 27 percent of roads congested
- Fairfax County, Va. -- 26 percent of roads congested
- Philadelphia -- 25 percent of roads congested
- Austin, Texas -- 25 percent of roads congested
- Phoenix, Ariz. -- 25 percent of roads congested
- Long Island, N.Y. (Nassau County) -- 24 percent of roads congested
- San Juan, Puerto Rico -- 24 percent of roads congested
- Portland, Ore. -- 23 percent of roads congested
- Houston -- 23 percent of roads congested
- Contra Costa County, Calif. -- 23 percent of roads congested
- Arlington, Va. -- 23 percent of roads congested
- Orange County, Calif. -- 20 percent of roads congested
- New Orleans, La. -- 20 percent of roads congested
- Norfolk County, Mass. -- 20 percent of roads congested
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Damn You Brian Blockhead.....when Montgomery County sees that they are only 4th, they will close more roads making every effort to surpass the three areas in front of them. I can just see ole Ike Legget and his council friends marking up maps in glee. Prepare for closures on 270 and 355. Road repair crews will be out in full force between 6am and 9am, returning at 3 pm till 7 pm.
I guess it is time to break out the bike, or skateboard or walking shoes.........
WE ARE DOOMED !!!!!!!
Why am I not surprised? I think traffic in northern VA in the past few years has improved. There have bee a lot of road projects that alleviated the mess we had in the 80's and 90's
Only 29% of the roads are congested here in Alexandria? Wow, I would have thought it was more. This is very interesting data. Thanks,