Editorial: Too late to stop road work

Wednesday, April 24, 2002 | 9:07 a.m.

On Monday the Sierra Club filed a federal lawsuit to delay work on the widening of U.S. 95 in northwest Las Vegas until more studies are completed. The environmental group, criticizing the project's environmental impact study as incomplete and inaccurate, commissioned its own studies that raise concern about people who live near the widened highway -- more cars, more pollution, more cancer. The lawsuit's timing, however, is unfortunate. Widening from Washington to Cheyenne avenues is nearly complete and the federal government has approved $65 million for right-of-way acquisitions between Washington Avenue and the Spaghetti Bowl. Property owners along this 15-mile stretch have lived five years with their lands in limbo. The lawsuit will cost them more time.

The Sierra Club makes a number of good points that could yet be incorporated into this project and similar projects in the future. It suggests landscaping to mitigate pollution and it recommends close monitoring of the air quality along the widened portion of the highway. It says the Federal Highway Administration could make air filters available to schools, businesses and homes along the route. And it suggests that local officials should even consider moving schools that are close enough to highways to be affected by their pollution. In a bigger picture, it suggests cleaner fuels and more governmental emphasis on mass transit in order to reduce highway traffic.

This particular project, though, is too far along to be delayed now. It's never too late, however, to recognize good suggestions and incorporate them into future plans.

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