PORTLAND, Ore. — The group No More Freeways has filed a lawsuit against the Oregon Department of Transportation’s plan to add auxiliary lanes and shoulders to Interstate 5 by Portland’s Rose Quarter.
The federal government allowed the project to move forward without a full environmental impact statement, and the group believes that’s a violation of the National Environmental Policy Act, The Columbian reported April 5.
The $800 million project is aimed at decreasing congestion and traffic accidents on a segment of I-5 between its junctions with Interstate 84 and Interstate 405, but it has faced significant opposition from No More Freeways and other Portland community groups that say the freeway expansion would increase pollution and contribute to global warming.
The groups are also concerned about the project’s impact on a nearby middle school.
The project has garnered attention in southwest Washington state’s Clark County because of the large number of local residents who commute to Portland for work, often sitting through heavy backups on I-5 through North Portland.
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