If used with forethought more asphalt could help. But it is no where near the amount needed to widen arterial roads. I am thinking things like adding 80 feet of left turn lanes to all four sides of the intersection of Bradley and Wilson. Getting rid of the left turn from south bound Conn. to Plyers Mill forcing all those people to use an improved Howard to Summit for a jug handle turn might improve both North and South bound traffic in Kensington. Kensington also needs improved pedestrian (and bicycle) crossings of Conn. especially north or south of the business district.
The howl goes up, "Fix this mess."
The pols look for a quick fix and say, "We'll add more traffic lanes." The pols can now say they've "done something," which gets them through another couple of election cycles -- even if the new lanes aren't actually added for ten years, if ever.
Meanwhile, the developers say, "They're widening the road, so we can build even further out." And the cycle continues, ever downward.
I'm not opposed to building new roads on two conditions. First, the new lanes shouldn't be allowed to seriously degrade existing, closer-in neighborhoods. These neighborhoods are the long-term solutions. They are not impediments to be paved over for the convenience of long distance commuters. I have a heavy presumption against taking shoulders and sidewalks, tree plats, on-street parking in neighborhood business districts, and front yards, all to cram another lane through for commuter traffic. In addition, any road that is being commuterized in a residential area should be built with, at least, sidewalks adequate for both bikes and pedestrians, and with plenty of crossing places at walkable/bikeable distances so that neighborhoods aren't sliced apart by uncrossable roads.
As a practical matter, there are darn few places inside the beltway where this can be achieved.
Secondly, the suburban areas that are still building out should avoid repeating the mistakes of the last generation. Build mixed use communities from the ground up. Plan for multi-modal transportation options from the ground up. Don't scatter shopping centers and office parks, surrounded by huge parking lots, willy-nilly across the countryside on the assumption that everyone will drive everywhere. No more Tyson's. Build on the assumption that, 20 years from now, today's edge city will be as dense as Bethesda or Springfield or McLean. Zone residential development, including mixed income housing, within walking, biking, and easy neighborhood bus range of the commercial districts. Build a rational bike network in from the start, when it's cheap and easy to do, as opposed to trying to retrofit later after traffic is a disaster and fixes are expensive.
But all of this requires that the pols resist the impulse to pander to the squeaky wheel. Think ahead. But pols aren't very good at that.
I feel sorry for people who have to commute from Urbana or Haymarket into DC every day. But I'm only sorry up to a point. Most of those people are relatively recent arrivals. They bought out there knowing that the traffic situation is a disaster. They bought the problem. They should own their own choices. And they shouldn't demand that inner ring neighborhoods, which are better places to live, be degraded to mitigate their mistake.