Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, November 16, 1995 TAG: 9511170009
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-5 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The New River Valley Greens have asked the U.S. District Court in Roanoke to order highway planners to conduct a more complete environmental review for the six-mile road, which is being promoted as a proving ground for new transportation-safety technology. The group also wants the court to order officials to go back in the planning process to a point they passed more than two years ago.
The lawsuit names the U.S. Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration and the Virginia Department of Transportation as defendants.
Contacted Wednesday, VDOT spokeswoman Laura Bullock and District Administrator Fred Altizer said they had not yet seen copies of the lawsuit and had no comment.
The New River Valley chapter of the Sierra Club and the New River Valley Environmental Coalition announced their support for the filing. Those groups and the New River Valley Greens are longtime opponents of the smart highway, which has been in the works since the late 1980s.
The lawsuit alleges violations of three federal laws: the Endangered Species Act, an executive order on federal actions that disproportionately affect poor families and the National Environmental Policy Act.
Specifically, the group argues that:
Highway planners failed to provide to the public the model used in the 1993 environmental impact statement to predict future traffic volume. The projections are part of the justification for the road.
Planners did not adequately consider alternatives to the highway, including enlarging the Blacksburg-Christiansburg bypass connector, also known as Alternative 3A. That two-phase highway is to be built just east of the existing U.S. 460 to relieve congestion around the intersection with Peppers Ferry Road in Christiansburg. It also will link the U.S. 460 bypass to Interstate 81 beside Falling Branch Elementary School.
Planners issued an addendum to the project's environmental impact statement in October without giving the public a chance to comment on it. The addendum covered aspects of the highway that have come up since the initial statement was completed more than two years ago.
Planners completed inadequate bird and plant surveys and failed to prepare a wildlife survey.
Memo: Shorter version ran in Metro edition.