SEATTLE -- Washington state's transportation chief says it would be "impossible" to cure the traffic congestion, blaming the actual cause of car-clogged highways on the region's affordability crisis.



Roger Millar, the state's transportation secretary overseeing the Department of Transportation, said at an American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials meeting last week that building more highways isn't the answer because traffic congestion "is a problem we simply cannot solve."



He said it's because too many people have to drive hours to get to work because the only housing they can afford is far away.



Millar said "executive housing and Walmart jobs" is a housing solution that only puts more people on the road.



Seattle's grappling with its housing affordability and homelessness crisis as it's become the fastest growing city in America.