In an effort to mend the state’s traffic and financial issues Virginia has implemented a policy effectively banning the development of new cul-de-sacs. Subdivisions will be required to have multiple entrances and through streets, connecting them to neighboring communities, schools and shopping areas.

With only one entrance to subdivisions, suburban cul-de-sacs create networks of high traffic roadways as private dead-end roads funnel directly into overburdened arterial roads. The current system “forces drivers to enter these traffic-choked roads to go even 50 yards or so to the neighborhood coffeehouse or elementary school.” Over the next few years this new policy will dramatically change Virginia’s suburban landscape, minimizing stress on existing roadways, cutting costs of government services, increasing density, and likely increasing walkability in the suburbs.

Full Story: In Va., Vision of Suburbia at a Crossroads

The New York Times Recognizes Virginia’s Cul-De-Sac Ban as one of the Top Ideas of 2009

Source: The Washington Post, 22 March 2009