HOUSTON (AP) – A federal lawsuit has been filed to stop a massive $7 billion highway widening project in Houston that local officials and community advocates say won’t improve the area’s traffic congestion and will disproportionately impact minority residents who would be displaced by the proposed construction.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday by Harris County, comes as the Federal Highway Administration earlier this week asked the Texas Department of Transportation to put the project on hold so the federal agency could review civil rights and environmental justice concerns that have been raised about the proposal.
The construction project would improve 24 miles along Interstate 45 and several other roadways, with a major remaking of how these thoroughfares go through downtown Houston.
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