Roadways are routinely used by people to travel, and are instrumental in the transport of materials from one location to another. As the demographics of a region change and populations increase, the need to expand roadways to account for changing times may be necessary. However, there are times when even though construction projects are ready to begin, legal actions such as lawsuits may prevent their progression.
In fact, Louisiana residents will be interested to learn that transportation planners in the state are being impeded from following through with a planned extension of an expressway because of lawsuits filed by a couple of groups. According to reports, the Louisiana Department of Transportation is ready to begin an environmental impact study on the extension of the expressway. However, litigation by groups who claim to actually support the road but want it build across a part of a nearby planned subdivision, are preventing any progression on the study, and therefore, the entire construction project .
According to the executive director of the Northwest Louisiana Council of Governments, contracts for stage one of the construction are ready to go. However, the pending lawsuits had prevented them from beginning the project.
The main objection by the groups is the proposed planned route. The groups support the road but would like to see the highway extension get routed across a part of a subdivision which is being built by another developer. Furthermore, one of the group’s lawsuits alleges that the state in its proposed study withheld that potential route from the list of proposed corridors.
Another lawsuit to prevent the construction of a road in the same development was filed but in that case, a judge ruled that the project could proceed. Any large-scale construction project has the potential to generate expensive and time-consuming litigation. Businesses involved in construction owe it to themselves to ensure that their legal rights are protected, and that all pre-construction hurdles are cleared in a manner to minimize the threat of such suits.
Source: Beaumont Enterprise, “Shreveport highway study held up by lawsuits,” November 10, 2013
