Several environmental and historic preservation groups filed a request for summary judgement Friday concerning the state’s proposed plans to build toll lanes along I495 and I270.
According to the groups, the Federal Highway Administration and the Maryland Department of Transportation “failed to adequately assess and disclose the project’s impact.”
On Wednesday, Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller said plans for those two roads are being reevaluated and that the state will not start from scratch in its quest to relieve traffic congestion. Starting over would result in a loss of federal funds and a delay of years, Miller said.
The state plans to decide how the project would be financed and whether there would be road widening along the entire stretch or only at the American Legion Bridge.
The groups filing the motion accused former Gov. Larry Hogan’s Administration with being in a hurry and cutting corners and ignoring “legally required steps.”
The Maryland Chapter of the Sierra Club, Friends of Moses Hall, National Trust for Historic Preservation and NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) filed the motion for summary judgment in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.
The groups oppose the toll lanes and road expansion, stating it “would cause significant harm to public health, to natural resources and to culturally significant historic places that were already impacted by the original Beltway construction in the 1960s.”
According to these groups, the state did not analyze public health harms from air pollution and possible impact on vulnerable communities near I270.
Miller said any work that will be done in that area will be done with vulnerable communities in mind.
The filing accused the previous administration with “failing to determine whether the project would disturb graves in the Morningstar Moses Cemetery and Hall, a historic African American burial ground adjacent to the Beltway, and misleading the public about impacts to the cemetery.”
“Maryland admits that there might be people buried in the project’s path, and so it has misled the public with its assertions that the project would completely avoid Morningstar Moses Cemetery and Hall,” Diane Baxter, a board member of Friends of Moses Hall said in a news release.
“The project hasn’t changed, and it’s still advancing despite serious flaws and inadequate impact analysis. It would benefit only a few at a very high cost to our air, water, climate, natural and cultural resources, and adjacent neighborhoods,” according to a statement by Josh Tulkin, director of the Maryland Chapter of the Sierra Club.
