Traffic in Northern Virginia could be getting better.

This is an interesting piece by Evan Coyne Maloney at Brain-Terminal. Anyone who has ever been to northern Virginia knows that the traffic in that area, as well as the rest of the D.C. Metropolitan area, can be terrible. Worse yet, the traffic problems continue to degenerate. The Washington Post reports that the Beltway (I-95 and I-495 around Washington D.C.) will be expanding to add two lanes. What's interesting is that these lanes will be something of a mix of toll roads and HOV lanes; commuters with three or more drivers can use these lanes for free, and anyone else will be able to get on it by paying a toll. This toll will go up as traffic on these lanes increases. While not perfect, this sort of improvement will alleviate traffic from the main lanes, and will allow a number of people to have a faster trip on the other two.

Only unfortunate part, these new lanes may not be open until 2010, but you know what they say; better late than never.