4月下旬,联邦公路政府驳回了一项申诉,旨在阻止70号州际公路通过北丹佛的12亿美元扩张。环境律师事务所Earthjustice代表反对该项目的邻里团体提​​出了投诉。

The complaint alleged that the Colorado Dept. of Transportation’s plan to reconstruct a 10-mile stretch of I-70, remove a 50-year-old viaduct and widen the freeway would discriminate against low-income neighborhoods and displace the mostly Latino residents near the highway.

反对者已要求CDOT重新考虑沿I-270和I-76的现有路线向北移动高速公路。但是该机构很久以前拒绝了该计划,理由是其估计的3亿美元价格标签。FHWA报告说,尽管I-70计划并非没有缺陷,但“没有足够的证据将造成不利的,不同的区域影响”,并且可能比其他选择更可取。

CDOT officials say they will move forward this summer with selection of a private concessionaire. “This is the biggest project CDOT has ever undertaken,” says Rebecca White, Central 70 spokeswoman. “We’ve been at it for 15 years, and we’ve done everything we were required to do.”

尽管如此,反对者项目誓言要战斗。塞拉俱乐部的空中质量标准诉讼正在联邦法院审理,律师鲍勃·尤恩克(Bob Yuhnke)说,计划了另一项诉讼。他说:“我们要求CDOT调查高速公路在加剧附近的人的健康影响方面所起的作用,并且拒绝这样做,因此他们需要向法官解释这一点。”

“我认为没有人可以声称[高速公路]的能力会有助于卫生状况,”更大的丹佛市民总裁阿德里安·布朗(Adrian Brown)说。“它与社区健康相矛盾,显示出近视的看法。”