I suppose we could point to Engeldinger Marsh, Eddyville Dunes, and the Iowa
City Melrose Avenue project, as cases where highway or street projects were
changed as a result of the NEPA process. But I could argue that it was
Section 404 and Section 4(f) that saved Engeldinger Marsh and Eddyville Dunes
(not to mention the time, efforts and commitment of a lot of people over an
extended period of time), and an enlightened city council that changed the
Melrose Avenue project (where else in Iowa but Iowa City?).

Unfortunately, NEPA does not require highway planners to do anything but pur
together a bunch of paper and make it look like they evaluated the project.
As one former IDOT official said, "NEPA does not require us to make the right
decision, only an informed one."

The real problem in Iowa is to convince the public that every small town does
not need a 4-lane highway and that the destruction of the environment to save
2 minutes of driving time is not a good tradeoff. In a way, you cannot blame
the DOT for wanting to build highways when every DOT Commission meeting is
filled with local governments and community groups clamoring for a new
highway in their area.

Wally Taylor

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