Reporter: Drew Speier
A potential bump in the road for the I-69 project.
A federal lawsuit, filed Monday in Indianapolis, asks the court to halt all planning and design work.
"This is something we knew was going to happen all along, it was just a matter of when."
Steve Schaefer represents Hoosier Voices for I-69. He and other proponents of the project got the answer to that question Monday.
In making the announcement, environmentalist Tom Tokarski said, "We are asking the courts for relief from INDOT's illegal, irrational behavior."
The lawsuit threatening to delay the project was filed in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis. Environmentalist and citizen groups claim state officials violated federal environmental and endangered species laws in the process of selecting the route.
The 48 page lawsuit asks the court to halt all planning and design work. Tokarski says, "INDOT and federal highway are properly the servants of the citizens of this state, not henchman who enforce dictated orders, waste precious farmland, condemn our homes and properties, destroy established businesses, waste tax dollars and deny our democratic rights."
The plaintiffs include the Hoosier Environmental Council, Citizens for Appropriate Rural Roads and six southern Indiana residents. I-69 supporters say they respect the environmental arguments of opponents, but believe all of those issues have been addressed in the past.
And for the moment, they're not concerned about this lawsuit causing any kind of delay. Schaefer says, "to be honest, no. Because all of the arguments that I've read in their press release, in their press conference, everything that's coming out is the same arguments they've been using all along."
All the planning continues. We visited with INDOT spokesman Gary Abell. He says he's not surprised by the suit. He tells us his agency will now get with the other agencies named in the lawsuit and they'll respond within a 30 day period.
Abell also says the I-69 project will move forward as planned and start construction in the Evansville area at I-64 and State Road 57 in the summer of 2008.
