Lawsuit against I-35 expansion by TxDOT dropped
AUSTIN, Texas - Several groups that sued the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) last year over proposed I-35 expansion projects have dropped the lawsuit, but are considering further legal action.
"The reason is, frankly, because there were very promising legal avenues coming up, and we don't have resources to fight multiple fights at once," Adam Greenfield, board president of Rethink 35, said.
In the original lawsuit, they argued splitting the project into three sections: North, Central, and South. That allowed TxDOT to avoid the environmental review of a single larger project.
While the group hasn't got into specifics on further action, they say expanding I-35 isn't the right solution for congestion, the environment, and transparency.
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"We want a better project. We know that highway expansions don't work, that they just make traffic worse and lengthen commutes and kill more people and pollute the air and water," Greenfield said.
He argues a better solution would be having the interstate go around the central business district instead of going through it.
"We need to look seriously at using other highways in the region as the interstate. We've also seen in those kind of situations the highway then that goes through town being repurposed as a more kind of urban environment," he said.
TxDOT says in a statement:
"All I-35 Capital Express projects are the result of thorough environmental studies and extensive public input. TxDOT looks forward to bringing safety and mobility improvements to the corridor through these critical projects. Construction continues uninterrupted on the North and South projects, and we expect to have a final environmental decision on the I-35 Capital Express Central project by late summer."