Wisconsin's $1.1 Billion Highway Widening Project on the Ropes

"The Wisconsin Department of Transportation is asking the federal government to rescind its decision to expand a section of Interstate-94 in Milwaukee," reports Lisa Neff.

Neff reports the details of the letter, which is shared in full alongside the article, in addition to the full text of the NAACP vs. Ross lawsuit that is challenging the expansion plan. The lawsuit centers on "environmental impacts not considered during planning for the project," such as "highway run-off of oil and other vehicular fluids" and "air pollution."

Neff also adds: "Environmental hazards would disproportionately affect African Americans and Latinos, who comprise 57.1 percent of the area surrounding the project, according to the complaint."

Environmental attorney Dennis Grzezinski is quoted in the article saying the state's letter should be a "no-brainer" for the federal government to put an end of the project, but a final decision will come in a few weeks. The lawsuit, meanwhile, will stay in federal court.

For more background on the big news, see an article by Angie Schmitt for Streetsblog USA.