| Issue 96 | September 13, 1996 |
Sued Again
The Nassau County village of East Hills sued to block the NY State Dept. of Transportation's Long Island Expressway carpool lane construction project at the end of August, and announced the suit this week. The lawsuit alleges that the highway widening project does not comply with state environmental laws. Village Mayor Michael Koblenz told Newsday that negotiations with the DOT on the highway's impact on the community had fallen through. The village wants the highway recessed to reduce noise and is concerned that overflow traffic during construction will endanger students at schools near the expressway. Koblenz also distrusts the State's construction timetable, arguing that the project will take longer than projected.The planning process and impact of the L.I.E. widening project and has already been challenged in court by Queens civic groups, State Senator Frank Padavan, Queens Borough President Claire Shulman and the City of New York. The Queens suit is pending a ruling on jurisdiction -- the DOT believes it will get a better ruling if the suit is heard in Suffolk County instead of Queens.
Communities throughout the metropolitan area are warring with NY State DOT over highway expansion projects the communities say are intrusive, degrade quality of life and won't solve transportation problems.
