DOT officials have claimed for years that the project is an infrastructure replacement project for which in-depth project review is unwarranted. Strong pressure from community groups and elected officials has forced the DOT and FHWA to draft an environmental impact statement for the work. But elected representatives and civic leaders have maintained that the scale of the proposed investment and the high impact of the elevated expressway warrants a more fundamental look at Brooklyn transportation issues.

Federal transportation law, the Intermodal Surface Transportation Act of 1991 (ISTEA), provides for thorough analysis and review of large infrastructure proposals via "major investment studies." But after passage of ISTEA, NYMTC "grandfathered" the Gowanus corridor from major investment study (MIS) scrutiny. This decision seems untenable in light of subsequent DOT and FHWA admission that environmental review of the project is warranted, and gainsays very serious expressions of community concern with the project's short and long-term impacts.

Brooklyn Borough President Howard Golden recently called for a borough-wide MIS to develop a strategic Brooklyn transportation plan. Plaintiffs in the lawsuit say a major investment study of the Gowanus should set up a wide-ranging collaborative look at transportation options for the borough, including better transit and placing the highway in an underground tunnel.

Plaintiffs are the Boerum Hill Assn, Brooklyn Heights Assn, Care About the Slope, Carrol Gardens Assn, Red Hook Civic Assn, Sunset Park Restoration, United Puerto Rican Organization of Sunset Park, Matthews and Ryan Inc, and Transportation Alternatives.