Ever heard of traffic circulation?

This is going to be the state of downtown for a long while to come, as we have now fully switched to using the new Crosstown, and for most people, using Western to get onto I-40 to the west suburbs. The only addition in the visible future that could make a dent in this traffic hang-up would be the new downtown boulevard reconnecting at the beginning of the old I-40 alignment, between Penn and May. But will motorists want to go all the way past Penn to avoid the dysfunction junction at Western?

On the bright side, our horrific planning establishment in Oklahoma may actually be helping downtown in this case. (This is where I feel like if I state the truth, the homebuilder lobby will pressure them to actually "Fix it!" before they lose sprawl-business) This traffic dysfunction, which could scientifically increase commutes by at least 10 minutes (ever see "average commute time: 32.6 minutes?"), but in reality probably by more. Downtown living stands to gain even more attractiveness, especially as the "no more commute" argument would carry so much more water then. Or, we can only hope.