AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- A project looking to expand an eight-mile stretch of Interstate 35 through downtown Austin appears headed for yet another court challenge.
The lawsuit, filed by Rethink35 and several other Austin organizations, is accompanied by a federal civil rights complaint.
TxDOT's Capital Express Central project, which is scheduled to begin construction later this year, would widen eight miles of the interstate between U.S. Highway 290 East and Ben White Boulevard.
The lawsuit alleges that TxDOT "failed to take a hard look at environmental impacts related to human health, air quality, and water resources; failed to properly assess the project's inequitable impacts of environmental justice populations; and did not seriously explore alternative highway designs to expansion."
In addition to Rethink35, other organizations joining the lawsuit and civil rights complaint include Save Our Springs Alliance, PODER, Mueller Neighborhood Association, East Town Lake Citizens Neighborhood Association, Austin Justice Coalition, AURA and east Austin resident Bertha Rendon Delgado.
"Thousands of residents, local businesses, and organizations, along with many elected officials, expressed their deep concerns to TxDOT about its plans to widen I-35," said Adam Greenfield, board president for Rethink35. "TxDOT ignored those concerns, giving us no choice but to find remedy in court."
A lawsuit previously filed by Rethink35 and other plaintiffs in June 2022 alleged TxDOT violated the law by splitting its makeover of Interstate 35 into three separate phases. That lawsuit was dismissed a year later - at Rethink35's request.
Federal officials approved TxDOT's environmental impact statement for the Capital Express Central project last August. Construction on the $4.5 billion project is expected to begin later this year.