Marysville sues Caltrans over approval of Highway 70 project
The city of Marysville filed a lawsuit in Yuba County Superior Court challenging the decision of the California Department of Transportation to approve the Highway 70 expansion project, according to court documents.
In its petition to the court filed on Jan. 5, Marysville alleged that Caltrans failed to comply with the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), when it approved the project, based on the Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and Final Environmental Assessment (EA).
Caltrans would not comment
on the case because of the potential litigation, according to Caltrans District 3 public information officer Gilbert Mohtes-chan.
The Highway 70 Binney Junction Roadway Rehabilitation and Complete Streets Project will include widening the highway to five lanes, replacing and lengthening two existing railroad structures, lowering the existing Highway 70 under two overpasses, removal of existing access to and from 17th Street, relocation of an existing levee, signalization of two existing intersections and rehabilitating existing pavement.
The project area would run from just south of 14th Street to just north of Cemetery Road. It is an estimated $111 million
project that is fully funded with federal and state dollars. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2023 and is estimated to take three years.
Caltrans completed its EIR/ EA document in December
2020 and posted it on its website. The document includes the agency's decision to select alternative 1/1A as the preferred alternative for the project. The other alternative Caltrans was considering was opposed by the Marysville City Council and members of the community because it would force the Veterans Memorial Center to be moved and impact more residential housing. The alternative that Caltrans selected will not impact the Veterans Memorial Center and impact one residential home, according to the EIR/EA.
Marysville alleged that it made
comments on the EIR saying that the project will have significant environmental effects on air quality, traffic, noise, and land use impacts as well as impacts on emergency access and emergency response and utilities.
The EIR does not disclose or analyze those environmental effects or identify any mitigation concerns for adoption, according to the suit.
“Caltrans's actions in approving the project based on an incomplete and otherwise deficient EIR that is unsupported by substantial evidence violates CEQA,” the city's petition read.
Yuba County and Union Pacific Railroad are listed as parties of interest in the lawsuit. The suit will be decided in Yuba County Superior Court because the actions taken by Caltrans happened in the county and the proposed project will be
constructed in the county, according to court documents.
The petition describes how Marysville was not aware that Caltrans had approved the project for almost two weeks and continued to submit comments on the Final EIR. The project was approved by Caltrans and a Notice of Determination (NOD) was filed on Dec. 7, 2020, according to court documents.
In an email to the city clerk on Dec. 10, Caltrans asked the city to post the Final EIR on its website but did not say the project had been approved. Marysville's consulting planner emailed Caltrans for an update on the status of the project but did not get a response.
On Dec. 17, the city filed a comment letter with Caltrans explaining that Caltrans had failed to respond to its comments on the Draft EIR and those issues
still existed in the Final EIR. Caltrans responded by saying it got the letter but did not say it had approved the project.
The city asked if Caltrans could delay the filing of the
NOD but did not get a response. The city found out on Dec. 18 that the project had already been approved and Caltrans responded on Dec. 21 saying that it had approved the project and filed the NOD.
Marysville wants the court to order Caltrans to vacate and set aside its approval of the project, its issuance of the NOD and certification of the
EIR. In addition, the city is asking the court to stop Caltrans from taking any action to implement the project until it is in compliance with CEQA, according to court documents.
No upcoming court dates have been set at this time.