[B]URLINGTON — A federal judge has allowed a delay for proceedings in the latest legal challenge to the Champlain Parkway project, permitting additional outreach in a low-income neighborhood along the route.
The Pine Street Coalition, which has about 150 members, filed a lawsuit in federal court in June asking for an injunction to halt construction. The coalition alleges that the project’s environmental impact statement from 2009 is no longer valid because it contains outdated information on land use, traffic and population in the area.
Thomas D. Everett, the executive director of the Federal Highway Administration, Joe Flynn, the secretary of the Vermont Agency of Transportation, and Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger are listed as the defendants.
Everett and Flynn submitted a motion for a voluntary remand, or delay on proceedings in U.S. District Court in Burlington on Aug. 9. The motion, accepted by Judge Geoffrey Crawford, asks for time to develop a reevaluation of impacts on minority and low-income neighborhoods in the project area.
“While FHWA is prepared to defend its decision on the 2019 Reevaluation with regard to these points, it has recognized a need for further development of the record with regard to Plaintiff’s fourth claim concerning environmental justice,” the filing states.
The Highway Administration and VTrans plan to conduct and document new outreach to these communities, particularly in the King/Maple Street neighborhood, according to the motion.
Plans for the Champlain Parkway were first created in the 1960s and have evolved from a four-lane divided highway to a two-lane city street. Project officials expect work on the 2.8-mile route to begin in the next six to 12 months.
The lawsuit alleges that the neighborhoods and natural areas the parkway will pass through have “significantly changed” over the past decade since the environmental assessment for the project was completed in 2009. It references concerns over the potential impact on the low-income King Street neighborhood and water quality, among other issues.
Pine Street Coalition member Steve Goodkind is a former public works director and city engineer who worked on the project.
“We think it’s a significant issue, that the census tract in that area has the highest percentage of low income or the second highest percentage in the city,” he said.
The last environmental impact statement for the project was completed in 1979, followed by a final supplemental statement in 2009.
The court filing from Everett and Flynn stated that while records may exist, a review by Highway Administration staff of project files “did not contain documentation of the community outreach efforts” about the parkway.
The order remanding the lawsuit decision issued on Aug. 9 provides the defendants with 90 days to submit a report of the additional work to the court. That deadline falls well before the six- to 12-month target for breaking ground on the project.
None of the parties involved in the lawsuit opposed the motion, according to court filings.
Goodkind said the Pine Street Coalition views the court delay as a “pretty big” turn of events.
“We’re not against the project, there’s a need for some of this stuff,” he said. “But most of what they’re doing is not needed and probably harmful.”
