MARTINSVILLE, Ind.-
Environmentalists and citizen groups sued the federal government and Indiana highway commissioner Monday, alleging that the state rigged the process for choosing a route to extend Interstate 69 from Indianapolis to Evansville.
The lawsuit asks a federal court to halt planning and design work on the state’s favored route for the $2 billion project, which would extend the highway 142 miles through mostly rural counties primarily served by winding, two-lane roads.
The plaintiffs argue that officials violated federal law, including the National Environmental Policy Act and the Endangered Species Act.
The lawsuit also alleges that the route selection criteria was tailored to ensure that the state’s preferred route was chosen, and that officials did not seriously consider upgrading existing Interstate 70 and U.S. 41 for the path. It contends that route would be significantly less expensive and cause less environmental damage.
“This case comes down to the state ignoring good sense, the law and public sentiment to choose the wrong route for Interstate 69 when there’s clearly an environmentally and economically preferable route out there,” said Tim Maloney, executive director Hoosier Environmental Council, one of the plaintiffs.
The state’s chosen route would destroy about 5,300 acres of farmland, 1,500 acres of woodland and 95 acres of wetland, and would damage or disturb some 400 acres of sensitive ecosystem in caves, sinkholes and underground streams, according to the plaintiffs.
Representatives of the Indiana Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration did not immediately return calls seeking comment.
Gov. Mitch Daniels’ administration has proposed making the I-69 extension a toll road as part of a public-private partnership. The proposed extension is part of a larger project to create a “NAFTA Superhighway” linking Canada and Mexico.
The lawsuit was filed by six southern Indiana residents and members of the Hoosier Environmental Council, Citizens for Appropriate Rural Roads and the Sassafras Audubon Society.
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