Federal doubts could delay,\u00a0 or doom,\u00a0 Monroe Connector-Bypass
\nMinus Fish and Wildlife Service OK,\u00a0 road can’t be built;\u00a0 environmental impact study disputed.
\nBy Steve Harrison
\nsharrison@charlotteobserver.com
\nPosted: Wednesday,\u00a0 Aug. 24, 2011<\/p>\n
Concerned that the state may not have been truthful about the environmental impact of the proposed Monroe Connector-Bypass,\u00a0 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has withdrawn,\u00a0 for now,\u00a0 its approval of the project.<\/p>\n
The decision could delay or even jeopardize the $800 million toll road.\u00a0 U.S. Fish and Wildlife approval is critical.\u00a0 Without it,\u00a0 the highway can’t be built.<\/p>\n
At issue is whether the N.C. Turnpike Authority did an accurate study of how building the road would affect the Carolina heelsplitter,\u00a0 a federally endangered mussel.<\/p>\n
The Turnpike Authority was required to do what’s known as a “build vs. no-build study.”\u00a0 It examines what would happen to traffic,\u00a0 population growth and the environment if highways are built, or not.<\/p>\n
Three environmental groups have alleged that when the Turnpike Authority did its “no-build”\u00a0 study,\u00a0 it used data projecting that the bypass was already in place.\u00a0 Not surprisingly,\u00a0 the study showed little impact from the road’s construction.<\/p>\n
The N.C. Department of Transportation,\u00a0 which works with the Turnpike Authority,\u00a0 told the Observer in March that it used data projecting the highway had been built.\u00a0 But it said its engineers had adjusted their work but their conclusions hadn’t changed.<\/p>\n
The Fish and Wildlife Service in Asheville thinks differently.<\/p>\n
In a letter sent to the authority Aug. 18,\u00a0 the service expressed doubts on how “a fair comparison can be made” unless the authority assumes the road won’t be built.\u00a0 It said after the authority submits a “new analysis,”\u00a0 it would review it,\u00a0 and make a new determination.<\/p>\n
“This letter substantiates one of our claims,”\u00a0 said Chandra Taylor of the Southern Environmental Law Center in Chapel Hill, which has filed a lawsuit to stop the project.\u00a0 “We think this shows the agencies were misleading the public.”<\/p>\n
Turnpike Authority spokesperson Reid Simons said the state stands behind the project.<\/p>\n
“We are reviewing their request for clarification,”\u00a0 Simons said.\u00a0 “NCTA remains committed to the project and stands by the integrity of the studies.”<\/p>\n
When asked by the Observer if the authority would provide the “new analysis” federal officials say they want,\u00a0 Simons said the authority would be “gathering information,\u00a0 but no new analysis would be done.”<\/p>\n
She added:\u00a0 The authority “expects a positive dialogue in the next couple of days.”<\/p>\n
The authority had planned to begin construction on the 22-mile toll road as soon as a federal judge decides the lawsuit,\u00a0 which could come later this fall.\u00a0 The highway would link to Interstate 485 in southeast Mecklenburg and run parallel to U.S. 74.\u00a0 It would give motorists a speedy way to avoid congested U.S. 74,\u00a0 a popular beach route for thousands of Carolina families every year.<\/p>\n
The bypass would be the Charlotte area’s first toll road.\u00a0 The law center said the state never seriously considered cheaper alternatives,\u00a0 such as improving the existing highway.<\/p>\n
The Turnpike Authority is also planning to build the Garden Parkway in Gaston County,\u00a0 another controversial project.\u00a0 Critics of that toll road have alleged that the authority manipulated a federally required study to make job losses appear less severe.\u00a0 The authority has denied that charge.<\/p>\n
Clarification sought<\/strong><\/p>\n In its letter to the Transit Authority,\u00a0 the Fish and Wildlife Service said it had “repeatedly” asked for clarification on whether the bypass impact studies are correct.<\/p>\n But after reviewing statements made by the authority in the lawsuit,\u00a0 the Fish and Wildlife Service said it believes the authority contradicted itself.<\/p>\n In researching the highway,\u00a0 environmental lawyers said they became curious when the build\/no-build scenarios showed little difference in how many miles people would drive if the toll road were built or not.<\/p>\n On Dec. 2, 2009, a uthority engineer Jennifer Harris’ handwritten notes state that the data used “assumes the Monroe project in place.”<\/p>\n Nine months later,\u00a0 in 2010,\u00a0 the authority told the federal government something different.\u00a0 It wrote in its Environmental Impact Statement:\u00a0 “Traffic Analysis Zone socioeconomic forecasts for the No Build Scenario did not include the Monroe Connector.”<\/p>\n The law center said one of its attorneys last year asked Harris whether the bypass was included in the no-build data.<\/p>\n Harris never wrote back,\u00a0 according to an email obtained under the state’s public records law.\u00a0\u00a0 She did,\u00a0 however,\u00a0 forward the email to a colleague, with this one-line message.\u00a0\u00a0 The email had a commonly used emoticon – a semi-colon and a parentheses ; ) – that resembles a wink.<\/p>\n The state has said that the emoticon was an innocent message,\u00a0 and not meant to conceal anything.<\/p>\n Read more: http:\/\/www.charlotteobserver.com\/2011\/08\/24\/2548050\/feds-doubts-threaten-monroe-bypass.html#ixzz1YbmYZOVO<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Federal doubts could delay,\u00a0 or doom,\u00a0 Monroe Connector-Bypass Minus Fish and Wildlife Service OK,\u00a0 road can’t be built;\u00a0 environmental impact study disputed. By Steve Harrison sharrison@charlotteobserver.com Posted: Wednesday,\u00a0 Aug. 24, 2011 Concerned that the state may not have been truthful about the environmental impact of the proposed Monroe Connector-Bypass,\u00a0 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nomcb.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nomcb.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nomcb.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nomcb.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nomcb.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=797"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.nomcb.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/797\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":802,"href":"https:\/\/www.nomcb.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/797\/revisions\/802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nomcb.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nomcb.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nomcb.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}