Just in my corner of the city, we have extraordinary turnaround neighborhoods along H Street N.E., around and just north of Union Station, along M Street S.E., and along the SW Waterfront. Basically, the whole perimeter around historic Capitol Hill is getting posh. The whole riverfront on the east side -- both the Anacostia and the Potomac -- is going to be golden. For a lot of the people in these new neighborhoods, a car is simply more trouble than it is worth.
This isn't going to work for everyone. But if we want to address congestion on the highways, the first priority should be to get as many people off the highways to begin with. NOT more traffic lanes and commuterization of what used to be attractive, liveable neighborhood streets. Again: DO NO HARM.
Vote “sphinx” for Mayor of Nashville.
Seriously that is exactly what we are dealing with. Surrounding counties are experience huge residential growth, but the jobs are still in Nashville proper. The interstates are totally choked so the traffic is naturally migrating to surface streets and making those impassable as well. Drivers see the existence of traffic jams as a violation of the Natural Law and Basic Human Rights, and demand solutions from the city of Nashville, even though they moved out of it specifically to avoid paying the taxes that would fund those solutions.