Infrastructure

• One of the major issues causing traffic problems in Dallas is infrastructure. When many of the major highways were originally built, Dallas was a much smaller city. The result now is a number of major highways being two lane when four-or six-lane highways would be much better at handling modern traffic levels. The problem with expanding these roads is the city's inability to re-route traffic during the time when construction would be under way. This problem leads to the possible solution of toll roads as one of the few viable options.
  
  

Bush Library Issues

• Traffic problems in Dallas don't only apply to the major highways. Many local neighborhoods also find themselves ensnared in traffic issues. One recent example is the Bush Library, which was built without any plans to handle increased traffic it would bring to the local neighborhood areas after opening. A "Dallas Morning News" story even found an engineer who argued on behalf of the worried neighbors about the problems additional traffic without a plan for dealing with it would bring.
  
  

Hard Statistics

• Not all reports agree on how bad the traffic around Dallas is, but some telling statistics come up when looking at each study's methodology. According to the Texas Traffic Institute in 2011, Dallas-Fort Worth ranked 8th worst in the country in 2010, a steady downward decline from 2005. Estimates in 2007 showed drivers in the Dallas area wasted 58 hours a year in rush hour traffic, although the further opening of toll roads has begun to bring those numbers down.
  
  

Toll Roads

• The main response to easing the traffic problems resulting from having too large a population around too small a highway infrastructure was to build toll roads from 2006 to 2011. A 2011 traffic report from Texas A&M's Texas Traffic Institute suggests that these roads are beginning to aid congestion issues. Aside from the much faster drive times of those who use toll roads, the "time travel index" measuring the full effect of backed-up rush hour traffic shows that it's easing as rush hour drives are becoming slightly less congested than they were in recent years.