Colorado Department of Transportation Finalizes Misguided Plan to Widen I-270

Colorado Department of Transportation Finalizes Misguided Plan to Widen I-270

Community-supported alternatives to widening are rejected

Contacts

Perry Wheeler, Earthjustice, [email protected]

The Colorado Department of Transportation, aided by the Federal Highway Administration, yesterday finalized its plan to widen I-270, ignoring concerns that were raised by conservation and environmental justice organizations over the potential impacts of the project on already-overburdened communities. Last year, GreenLatinos urged the agencies to consider its Healthy Communities No-Widening Alternative, which proposed using modern traffic-management tools on the corridor in lieu of adding new lanes, and was developed after meetings with community members to hear their goals and concerns.

"CDOT is choosing to widen a highway when it could be investing in solutions that actually move people while protecting the health of the communities along I-270," said Carlos Matutes, states project manager with GreenLatinos. "GreenLatinos has put forward a practical alternative: expand transit, manage congestion, create green buffers, monitor air quality, and build safer connections for people walking and biking. The choice is not between congestion and highway expansion. We can reduce congestion without asking communities that have already carried the burden of pollution to carry even more."

Earlier this year, Earthjustice submitted comments on behalf of GreenLatinos urging CDOT and the FHWA to reconsider their I-270 widening plans and issue a Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement. The comments highlighted the robust body of traffic science showing that adding new lanes does not reduce traffic congestion, despite increasing air pollution and taxpayer costs. GreenLatinos requested that the supplemental analysis consider effective alternatives to widening; remedy significant modeling errors; and select a preferred alternative that would improve conditions for local communities, rather than adding to pollution and health harms in an already-overburdened area. Yesterday, the agencies released a final environmental impact statement and record of decision that rejected the Healthy Communities No-Widening Alternative, doubled down on the flawed modeling, and finalized their plans to widen the corridor.

Last year, Earthjustice also requested that CDOT delay its planned release of a draft environmental impact statement as the associated 45-day comment period fell during the holidays and was untenable for meaningful community engagement. That request was also denied.

"This decision is a slap in the face to already-overburdened communities who will face even greater health risks from increased pollution," said Thomas Delehanty, senior attorney with Earthjustice's Rocky Mountain Office. "Repeatedly over the course of the last year, GreenLatinos has urged support for a no-widening alternative that would both protect community members and meet our transportation needs. Unfortunately, CDOT finalized a misguided plan to widen its way out of congestion-something traffic science shows is impossible."

The Healthy Communities No Widening Alternative would have managed congestion by tolling the existing corridor during rush hour (exempting buses, freight vehicles, and local residents). The alternative would have also required additional build-out of transit solutions both on and around the I-270 corridor, along with community-focused public health and safety improvements.

Additional Resources

• About the Rocky Mountain Office

About Earthjustice

Earthjustice is the premier nonprofit environmental law organization. We wield the power of law and the strength of partnership to protect people's health, to preserve magnificent places and wildlife, to advance clean energy, and to combat climate change. We are here because the earth needs a good lawyer.