Late last Friday, Rethink35 announced it is suing the Texas Department of Transportation for the second time over the I-35 expansion and filing a civil rights (Title VI) complaint with the federal government asking for intervention.
The suit contends that TxDOT violated the National Environmental Policy Act by failing to properly consider the environmental impacts of the expansion and failed to find a replacement for parkland at Waller Beach that will be seized for the expansion. And it’s not just Rethink35 – co-plaintiffs include Save Our Springs Alliance, Environment Texas, Celia Israel, Austin Justice Coalition, and PODER.
The civil rights complaint contends TxDOT is intentionally perpetuating discrimination by widening the highway and not accounting for disproportionate impacts to communities of color.
In October, Austin City Council and the Travis County Commissioners Court asked TxDOT to pause the expansion to allow time for regional mobility plans to acquire federal funding for caps and stitches that would mitigate the worst effects of the project, but those requests were ignored. Soon after, Rethink35 assembled a broad coalition of speakers to rally hundreds against the project at its Wider Won’t Work event in November.
“This is just another example of a government trying to shove something down everyday people’s throat without any consensus from any community members.” – Austin Justice Coalition’s Chas Moore
“This is just another example of a government trying to shove something down everyday people’s throat without any consensus from any community members, especially the folks that would be most impacted by this expansion,” said Austin Justice Coalition’s Chas Moore at a press conference announcing the suit Monday. “I think that’s why we see this really diverse group of people that a lot of times have been on opposite sides of things. But in this instance, we all come together and agree that we don’t want to allow the state to keep doing things that are detrimental to our communities.”
Save Our Springs Alliance is serving as legal counsel for the suit and has called in outside counsel from California-based firm Greenfire Law to help with the civil rights complaint. Back in September, the group levied its first lawsuit over the northern and southern sections of the planned highway, with the support of several Council members and SOS. This time around, the focus of the suit is the central segment, 8 miles of highway from Ben White Boulevard to U.S. Highway 290, which generated thousands more public comments from the community to bolster SOS’s argument. The other suit has been dropped due to expensive legal fees, and the co-plaintiffs are accepting donations to cover the high cost of this suit. Rethink35’s Adam Greenfield said he isn’t worried – the fund sat at over $10,000 just from three days of donations.
The next step is to wait for TxDOT’s response: “We already know that they’re gonna say that this lawsuit has no merit; they’re gonna say it’s a community-led project,” SOS’s Bobby Levinski said. “Largely, the record is what the record is, and it shows that TxDOT was negligent in trying to bypass the environmental analysis that they needed.” TxDOT is set to start construction in just a few months before the suit can conclude, and Levinski said SOS may be looking at an injunction to stop the project. The federal complaint is a bit more complicated, requiring federal agencies to look into whether an investigation is warranted.
“It is time to end the era of freeway expansion,” said Greenfield at the presser. “This toxic legacy should have ended decades ago.”
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This article appears in February 2 • 2024.