ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, May 23, 1996 TAG: 9605230087
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: ELISSA MILENKY STAFF WRITER
An opponent of the "smart" road filed a lawsuit against state and federal transportation agencies Tuesday charging that public funds are being used to construct a highway to benefit only private interests.
The lawsuit filed by Shireen Parsons, chairwoman of the local Sierra Club chapter, asks the U.S. District Court in Roanoke to declare construction of the smart road beyond the jurisdiction of the state and federal transportation authorities and to assess unspecified punitive damages against the agencies.
Parsons, who filed the lawsuit without an attorney, said she sued the governmental bodies as an individual and not under the umbrella of the Sierra Club or any other environmental organization because she wanted to take action quickly.
"Time is of the essence," she said.
The smart road is a proposed 6-mile link between southern Blacksburg and Interstate 81 that is being promoted as a proving ground for transportation research and a way to bring national recognition to Virginia Tech. The first two miles of the road, estimated by the Virginia Department of Transportation to cost about $27.1 million, would be used as a test bed for that research.
The crux of Parson's lawsuit is that funding for the entire $103 million road has not been secured. According to VDOT, $6 million has been allocated to date, with another $24.9 million promised - about the cost of the test bed.
Parsons contends that the test bed benefits private interests, namely Virginia Tech, and not the general public.
The road "is not in VDOT's purview," Parsons said. "This is not what VDOT is about. It's not about building laboratories for private use."
This is the second federal lawsuit filed by smart-road opponents. Three environmental groups - the national Sierra Club, the New River Valley Greens and the New River Valley Environmental Coalition - filed suit in November asking the court to order highway planners to prepare a more detailed environmental impact statement.
VDOT recently was removed from the lawsuit, leaving the Federal Highway Administration and U.S. Department of Transportation as defendants.
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