>>1691991It's congested because of passenger traffic in the region (see the time profile), as the US decided that interregional highways could also shoulder the burden of commuter traffic. And it's not so much worse than other metropolitan areas in the US.
>>1691995It shows that even out to 2050, North-South corridors in the region matter more, followed by large metropolitan area connections. It doesn't show demand for a long-distance EW route through nowhere. If anything, continued strong population growth around Houston and Atlanta makes connecting to those locations more important.
There are substantially better proposals for new interstates (like Las Vegas - Phoenix) than this. If it had to be spent in the region, maintenance would be a better pick.
