Our Apocalyptic, Traffic-Clogged Future, In Handy Bar Graph Form

Please to be enjoying the soothing colors of the data points on this fancy bar chart (larger, possibly legible version here) that shows the number of hours of utter gridlock we have to look forward to at some of Reston's most sought-after intersections -- including most of the spots you would imagine on Sunrise Valley and Sunset Hills Drive, where gridlock could consume as much as four hours a day once Reston's bollardy development is completely built out.

Earlier this week, the Reston Master Plan Special Study Task Force With the Unpronounceable Acronym (§) reviewed the results of a fancy transportation analysis based on the most pessimistic optimistic projections of residential and job growth -- assuming an additional 17,620 households and 43,000 jobs added in Reston by 2030.

But fear not! If the "full build" of transportation improvements -- including fancy "grade separations" (think cloverleafs), overpasses and underpasses -- is actually funded and constructed, the impact of congestion will be lessened, as seen by the fancy dark blue bars on the chart above. Just ignore caveats like this one:

All in all, it's just another reminder that we need to push county officials to push developers to actually fund the traffic improvements everyone seems to agree will be needed to accommodate growth. Or maybe by 2030, it won't matter because the country will be bankrupt and we will have reverted to an agrarian, barter-style economy we'll all be going everywhere on fancy Jetsons-style moving sidewalks. We can only hope!

You can read the full report here, if you're into such things.