A panel of local leaders rolled out a list of ideas Wednesday they said would cut through some of the bureaucratic tangles that afflict the Washington area during major storms, limiting gridlock and frustration. But critics said the committee appointed by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments failed to crack the legal barriers that prevent centralized decision making, dooming the area to traffic snarls and confusion that have accompanied past winters.

The committee was appointed in response to the Jan. 26, 2011, storm that left some commuters stuck in their cars for as long as 12 hours, and facing icy conditions that left some ambulances and firetrucks unable to reach scenes of accidents. That could have been avoided, leaders said earlier this year, if federal, state and local agencies had worked together better.