Wetlands Highway faces many roadblocks

by Dave Stone

The narrow majority of voters who favored the Wetlands Highway have a long wait before they can cruise around the new big box Target and Walmart stores on West 11th.

• The BLM must agree to permit the highway to plow through recently acquired West Eugene Wetlands.
• Many federal laws such as the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, the Endangered Species Act and even the 1996 Transportation Act must give way to the Wetlands Highway construction.
• Other state highway projects such as widening West 11th, Beltline and the Jefferson Street Bridge must be taken off the current funding list.
• Reconstruction of the I-5/Beltline interchange must be delayed indefinitely.
• The Urban Growth Boundary must be expanded.