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PS: I should add that even in sensible, high-density, mixed development neighborhoods, a lot of people will still drive. Many still do even here on Capitol Hill, for example, though they're the minority. But the easiest way to reduce congestion in such neighborhoods is to get a lot of your neighbors out of their cars, which is doable. Give people multi-modal transportation options, and many will choose not to drive (especially if they have to pay for parking). To drive or not to drive becomes in part a time of life decision. I rode a bike to work for years and started driving when my kids were at the age at which I became a chauffeur. I'm now back on my bike.

There's also a world of difference between a two or three or five mile commute on city streets vs. a 30 or 40 mile commute along a clogged commuter sewer like 66, 270, 95 or 495. Build communities that encourage people to live within five miles of their jobs and get there on neighborhood streets, without having to become a road warrior.

There will still be people who want to live in Urbana and drive into DC. But the best way to reduce their angst is the drain the swamp ahead of them by getting a lot of people in the closer-in suburbs out of their cars. 270 would be a lot easier for the Frederick/Urbana commuters if everyone in Germantown, Gaithersburg, Rockville, etc. wasn't clogging the road ahead of you.

Short term, to try to relieve some of the pressure on 270 and the beltway, I believe that some advertising for MARC in the Frederick/Urbana area could easily pay dividends. No this is not a cure all, but having the ticket sales to show there is demand would make it easier to argue for increased transit service. Unfortunately 270 from Germantown to Frederick if not all the way to Hagerstown along 70 is running near if not above design capacity even during non-rush hours. Note that increasing service on MARC will require demonstrating there is demand for the increased service as it will cost a similar magnitude as adding lanes to 270. This is in large part because impacting the ability of CSX to move freight on that line is a non-starter.

My opposition to widening 270 south of Gaithersburg and 495 is due to the fact that all those people who drive in on those highways need to get off somewhere, and the surface streets I am familiar with (Connecticut, River, Georgia) are already full during rush hour. I have seen the lights at those roads back traffic up the off ramps and impede the flow on the beltway.

I am currently in the unenviable situation of for work driving my work truck from our shop in Gaithersburg all the way to Georgetown to perform my work (and I require the equipment on that truck to do my job). Any reduction in the number of cars on the road makes everyone else’s life easier.

You have me thinking, sphinx. There are apartments right next to my work location. Right now, I’m living with my mother about 36 road miles away from work, or rather, I own the house and she lives with me. So maybe, if these apartments are age-compatible (I’m currently 51), I will move into one of them after she passes from the scene and I’ve paid off the house. Then I could literally walk to work. I would want to keep the car to visit relatives and friends outside of town, however.