A federal judge has struck down a local group’s latest legal objection to the Meadowcreek Parkway, issuing an order that dismisses a number of legal arguments against the federally funded interchange that will connect the rod through McIntire Park with the 250 Bypass.
An attorney for the Coalition to Preserve McIntire Park, James B. Dougherty, argued last month before Judge Norman K. Moon in federal district court that the Federal Highway Administration tried to get around accounting for the entire road’s environmental impact by presenting its section of the parkway—the interchange with the Route 250 Bypass—as a separate project.
Dougherty also claimed the FHWA unnecessarily dismissed some construction alternatives that would have kept the intersection from encroaching on parkland. Lawyers for the government argued that the alternative was a sprawling intersection that would grow as traffic volume did, and would eventually be too big for pedestrians and cyclists to safely cross.
Moon agreed with the FHWA in his judgement, saying he felt the total environmental impact of the roadway had been considered, and agreeing that the proposed plan’s overpass presented a safer option.
Check out the entire 53-page order below, read more details on Charlottesville Tomorrow, and pick up the June 5 copy of the C-VILLE for the full story.
Judge Moon’s order on Meadowcreek Parkway interchange