Seems that we cannot grow our roads enough to achieve a desired level of service to solve traffic congestion. From the “Lifespan Analysis” on page 52 of Kittelson’s final report on Russell Street reconstruction options:
“However, none of the alternatives and options are expected to operate acceptably under year 2035 traffic conditions and meet the City and MDT’s operation standards per the projected traffic volumes…”.
But we must be cautious with “Projections” and “Levels of Service”, as summed up tidily in an article by John Williams in “Centerlines”:
“…Level of Service has long been a misnomer. What it actually measures is the level of comfort for drivers, who tend to like streets that have very few other cars and where they can drive fast without interruptions. To get a “good” LOS (i.e., an A or B), you needed to widen streets, add lanes, get rid of on-street parking, limit crossings, add turn lanes, etc. In the US, LOS was never intended to measure how well a road performed for all interested parties (e.g., the people who lived near it and worried about high speeds, the kids who wanted to cross it to get to school, the bicyclists who wanted to use it to get to work, transit users, etc.)”.
Also on page 52 of the Kittelson report, they go on to point out where the community could focus for more effective changes at managing traffic:
“For a reduction in traffic projections to occur, changes in current land use, mode split, population growth, and/or culture would need to occur.”.
In sum, we all need to change the way we practice living and moving about.