Group in Sacramento Shuts Down Road Expansion

No more automatic expansion. The judge found that the road expansion was pre-ordained and alternatives and impacts weren't looked at closely enough.

Neighbors Advocating Sustainable Transportation (NAST) and the Environmental Council of Sacramento (ECOS) filed the suit because CalTrans’ analysis of the project’s air pollution and climate change impacts was inadequate, and the project did not consider options that did not involve widening the freeway.

Some key points:

1. Did not complete a Vehicle Miles Traveled count and associated air quality impacts from increased VMT

2. Did not look at a range of alternatives including a transit alternative to meet their goals.

3. Did not adequately address ghg emissions as a result of the freeway widening.

This is interesting because it might make Caltrans think twice before just pushing through with freeway expansion. It's been a push through since the 1950's that the only alternative was road widening. I'd be interested to see how this affects other projects around the state if at all.