Judge agrees to halt Lewis-McChord cross-base highway suit
A lawsuit filed by Conservation Northwest and allies against the Cross-Base Highway (proposed across rare oak-woodland prairie) is halted as parties come to an agreement.
A federal judge has signed an agreement halting a lawsuit that challenges the long-planned cross-base highway in Pierce County, known as state Route 704.
In late July, four groups filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Tacoma, challenging the project’s environmental impact statement and associated record of decision that the Federal Highway Administration issued before a deadline passed on Aug. 3.
The parties now agree to stay the proceedings because there is no construction funding for the project and it’s unclear when or if it will be secured.
U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle signed the order on Oct. 15.
The six-mile-long highway would connect an Interstate 5 interchange in Lakewood with state Route 7 in Frederickson, running through Joint Base Lewis-McChord and easing congestion for regional travelers.
The groups contend the environmental study ignored alternative alignments that would have less impact on the environment. They claim the approved alignment will destroy one of the region’s largest remaining tracts of oak-woodland prairie.
Defendants include the Federal Highway Administration, Washington State Department of Transportation and Pierce County.
