Cincinnati-area transit advocates are suing federal and state officials over the environmental review of the $3.6 billion Brent Spence Bridge Corridor project between Ohio and Kentucky, saying the Federal Highway Administration he ignored “significant impacts on the human environment”.
The group, Devou Good Project Inc., is asking a federal judge to declare that agencies and officials violated the National Environmental Policy Act by ignoring health and environmental impacts when it issued a no-impact finding significant (FONSI) instead of preparing a full report. environmental impact statement. They also want the judge to void the finding and any agreement authorizing the use of federal funding for the project, and to issue preliminary injunctions preventing any work on the project until the issues are resolved.
The plan calls for the construction of a new two-level, five-lane freeway bridge carrying Interstates 71 and 75 over the Ohio River immediately west of the Brent Spence Bridge, which would then be reconfigured to carry the local traffic between Covington, Ky. and Cincinnati. Five miles of I-71/75 in Kentucky would be widened and a new collector-distributor road system would be built along a portion. And in Ohio, about 3 miles of I-75 would be rebuilt and widened.
Officials first prepared an environmental assessment related to an earlier version of the project in 2012 and issued a FONSI that same year. Federal Highway Administration officials underwent a supplemental assessment this year and released another FONSI in May.
However, Devou Good Project says FONSI overlooks the impacts highlighted in the supplemental assessment. The group said in a statement that it decided to file its lawsuit “after considering the devastating future and current environmental impacts of the project, including the disproportionate negative health effects of minority communities from increased air pollution, the noise pollution and flooding, along with the removal of wetlands and forests and destruction of the habitat of endangered species.
The group says in its lawsuit that officials did not consider alternatives such as investing in public transit or adding tolls to reduce traffic crossing the river.
So far, none of the defendants have responded to the lawsuit, which was filed in federal court in Cincinnati on Oct. 15. In a statement, the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet said a priority of the project is to “provide an inclusive process that improves the surrounding communities.” while delivering a project that will bring safer, less congested travel and job opportunities to the region,” but declined to share more because of the pending lawsuit. The Ohio Department of Transportation declined to comment, and representatives for the US Department of Transportation did not immediately respond to inquiries.
The states already selected Walsh Kokosing Design-Build Team as the contractor for the first and largest phase of the project, which covers the bridge itself, some of the Ohio side work and all of the Kentucky side work. Construction is scheduled to begin next year and be completed by 2030, although demand could alter the projected schedule.
