Texas Highway Expansion Environmental Review Upheld by Court

The Texas Department of Transportation successfully defended its environmental analysis of a highway expansion that advocates said would disproportionately harm communities near the project.

The Texas agency met the requirements laid out by the National Environmental Policy Act and doesn’t need to supplement its review, Judge Alan D. Albright of the US District Court for the Western District of Texas said Thursday.

Rethink35—a nonprofit opposing the Interstate 35 expansion through Austin—and other groups claimed in January 2024 the Texas Department of Transportation and federal agencies didn’t properly consider the environmental consequences when authorizing the project. They raised ...