New Lawsuit Seeks to Put Brakes on I-70 Expansion "Boondoggle"

The Colorado Department of Transportation's plans for a $1.8 billion expansion of I-70 through northeast Denver, along with a related stormwater project pushed by city officials, are facing yet another legal challenge. The latest action, backed by an alliance of local residents, environmental activists, and a prominent RiNo developer, claims that the federal government shirked its obligations to fully consider a range of economic and environmental impacts before approving the highway upgrade, the biggest road project in the state's history.

"This is a boondoggle," plaintiff Brad Evans announced at a press conference outside the federal courthouse today, July 10. "We're after transparency. We're after justice...we're not laying down on this. We're going to fight this in every possible way."

The expansion focuses on a congested stretch of I-70 between I-25 and Chambers Road. It would replace a crumbling six-lane viaduct with a below-grade, partially covered superhighway expanded to ten lanes; officials say that a four-acre "lid" of greenery on top of the highway as it moves through the Elyria and Swansea neighborhoods would help reunite communities that were disrupted by the viaduct construction in the 1960s. But opponents maintain that the project will only create further disruption and environmental hazards in what is already one of the city's poorest areas (and reputedly the most polluted zip code in the country).

Two other lawsuits are currently pending in response to the plan. More than a year ago, the Sierra Club joined with community groups in the affected neighborhoods to file a federal lawsuit against the EPA, claiming that the agency lowered its pollution standards in order to greenlight the construction. Last summer, defenders of City Park Golf Course launched another lawsuit in Denver District Court, contesting the city's right to mow down hundreds of trees and create a "detention area" for stormwater runoff on the golf course, as part of its $300 million stormwater diversion plan — a plan that critics insist is being pursued primarily to benefit the highway project. CDOT is helping to pay for the stormwater upgrade through an intergovernmental agreement.

Read more: http://www.westword.com/news/lawsuit-filed-in-denver-against-cdot-over-interstate-70-expansion-9245394