Conservationists sue to stop I-81 widening

Conservationists sue to stop the widening of I-81. Meanwhile, traffic congestion continues to grow worse...

As reported in the Richmond Times-Dispatch:

A coalition of conservation groups is suing the Federal Highway Administration to stop it from implementing any plan to widen Interstate 81 to eight or more lanes.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Charlottesville, also wants the state government to abandon its attempt to win federal permission to charge tolls on I-81 to pay for any expansion.

...

But Megan Gallagher of the Shenandoah Valley Network, one of the groups that filed the suit, said Virginia Department of Transportation planning documents still insist that four new lanes are needed along 69 percent of the interstate.

The suit, she said, is to prevent those lanes from being built because they would destroy the natural scenery and ecological resources of the valley.

I wonder how Ms. Gallagher would resolve this other than being an obstructionist....