After getting a green light from the Oregon Transportation Commission last month to go forward with a plan to widen I-5 at the Rose Quarter, the Oregon Department of Transportation is moving forward with an initial construction phase of the project. I’ve heard a ribbon cutting ceremony to mark the groundbreaking of this multi-billion dollar megaproject could happen as soon as a week or two.
But lawyers representing a nonprofit that has filed a lawsuit to stop the project have a message for ODOT: Not so fast.
As I shared in a story July 23rd, ODOT officials recently suffered a setback in the lawsuit when, just days before a trial was to begin, the agency formally withdrew documents that were meant to show the project was compatible with Portland’s Comprehensive Plan. The trial has been rescheduled to January. No More Freeways expected ODOT to re-submit documents to convince the court their plan was compatible, but a 30-day window to do that expired over the weekend…