VDOT has stated that 4 out of every 5 vehicles using the new bridge would be, in effect, new users of a Potomac crossing, which shows that "induced traffic" would result from development generated by building the new bridge.
Montgomery County planners confirm VDOT's numbers, finding only a 6 percent reduction in traffic from a new crossing.
Estimates show that building a new Potomac crossing would cost tens of millions of US taxpayers and would benefit just a few thousand drivers every day.
According to the Washington Metropolitan Council of Governments, 6 out of every 10 jobs in the region will be located within 10 miles of the District of Columbia in 2025. In Montgomery County alone, the overwhelming majority of jobs, an estimated 66 percent in 2025, will be in the close-in employment centers of Bethesda-Silver Spring-Georgia Avenue-Rockville and, at most, 5 percent of workers in Montgomery County will travel to Virginia for jobs. Therefore, the construction of a new bridge will not help most commuters because most projected job growth in the region will occur in existing employment centers.
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