This is very important. Studies of cumulative impacts of transportation projects would greatly expand the scope of environmental impact studies for such projects, and could begin a shift away from the current endless expansion of our highway and airport systems, while environmentally superior alternatives such as rail continue to be abandoned for lack of investment. Tom Mathews, Sierra Club Iowa Chapter Transportation Issue Chair Subj: Cumulative Impacts Lawsuit Date: 02-10-10 15:01:04 EDT From: [log in to unmask] (John Holtzclaw) Sender: [log in to unmask] (Sierra Club Forum on Transportation Issues) Reply-to: [log in to unmask] (Sierra Club Forum on Transportation Issues) To: [log in to unmask] another victory, from Harrison Marshall <[log in to unmask]> John Holtzclaw [log in to unmask] sprawl and transportation action -- http://www.SierraClub.org/sprawl ----- Forwarded by John Holtzclaw/Sierraclub on 10/10/2002 11:58 AM ----- http://cgi.citizen-times.com/cgi-bin/story/news/21501 Judge, lawsuit delay I-26 widening project FLETCHER - Work to widen most of Interstate 26 in Henderson County from four to six lanes can't proceed until the courts resolve a lawsuit brought by environmental and other citizens groups, a federal judge has ruled. The decision delays the start of the project until at least next year. It also increases chances the state will have to do a comprehensive study of the I-26 corridor, as requested in the lawsuit brought against the state Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration. U.S. District Court Judge Terrence Boyle's preliminary injunction, filed Monday, bars DOT from proceeding with work on a 13.6-mile stretch of I-26 running from the Buncombe- Henderson county line to near East Flat Rock. Work had been scheduled to begin last summer. DOT has been laying plans to eventually widen about 40 miles of road in the I-26 corridor, including I-26 in Buncombe County, Interstate 240 in West Asheville and 15 miles of what's now U.S. 19-23 from Asheville north. Plaintiffs say DOT should study the cumulative impact of the work on the area's air quality and consider alternatives like public transportation . . . Boyle wrote that the groups "have raised serious questions as to whether Defendants acted arbitrarily and in violation of" an environmental law by looking at the Henderson County project individually instead of with the others. Eva Ritchey of Citizens for Transportation Planning, a Henderson County group that is one of the groups suing, said Boyle's decision "is really going to force DOT to start planning regionally and looking at transportation in a holistic manner instead of piecemeal." But state Rep. Larry Justus of Hendersonville, a leading backer of the project, said the widening "will eventually be done. It's just a delaying tactic." Other groups bringing suit are the Western North Carolina Alliance, Smart Growth Partners of WNC and the N.C. Alliance for Transportation Reform. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - To get off the CONS-SPST-SPRAWL-TRANS list, send any message to: [log in to unmask] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - For SC email list T-and-C, send: GET TERMS-AND-CONDITIONS.CURRENT to [log in to unmask]