I take it you have never traveled from Hillboro TX to Austin TX on I-35 at any time of the day.
You take it wrong. I've been there many times. You fail to grasp the fact that congested roads are congested because of access. The cars are not backed up because of too few lanes. You could put in twenty lanes and someone in the left lane would still wait till a quarter mile from their exit to move to the right lane. Limited access is the solution. Seperate through traffic from local traffic.
Exactly right. Express lanes with limited access are the solution. For example, Chicago has express lanes heading north out of the city and allow you to get to the suburbs very quickly. In addition, express lanes are a MUCH better idea than the HOV lanes pushed by the eco-nazis. See how New Jersey ended HOV lanes without losing Federal hiway dollars at http://www.users.nac.net/jmp/rd_hov.html