ARLINGTON, Va. – As the region attracts more jobs, the age-old question that arises centers around keeping traffic in check.

Planners grapple with the issue all the time, especially with areas such as Tysons Corner undergoing dramatic changes.

Arlington County Board member Chris Zimmerman says Arlington’s smart growth policies, which cluster jobs near mass transit and aim for walkable communities, are working.

“The Rosslyn/Ballston corridor has about the same office space as Tysons Corner. It has a fraction of the traffic. It’s done in less space, in like half the space of Tysons Corner,” Zimmerman says.

Zimmerman says more development doesn’t have to mean more traffic.

“We’ve added something like 15 million square feet since the Orange Line opened to Ballston,” he says. “Yet, we have decade by decade numbers that show at major intersections throughout that corridor, traffic hasn’t depreciated. In some cases, it’s even gone down.”

WTOP’s Adam Tuss contributed to this report. Follow Adam and WTOP on Twitter.

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