Rethink35 gets $25K grant to use in its legal fight against highway expansion

Along with almost $100,000 mostly from community donations, Rethink35 will use a $25,000 grant from Impact Fund to bolster its lawsuit against the Texas Department of Transportation over the expansion of Interstate 35, filed with 15 other co-plaintiffs in January. The trial is expected to begin within six months, and Rethink35 has positioned itself as giving Austin residents a voice in shaping the future of the highway and its surrounding area. Their lawsuit alleges that TxDOT violated federal environmental regulations by failing to conduct a proper study of expansion alternatives and by conducting inadequate studies on expansion’s impacts on air and water quality. The volunteer-backed nonprofit plans to hire expert witnesses “to testify on the project’s harmful impacts and strengthen our case as it heads to trial within the next six months,” according to a statement to the press. “This Impact Fund grant will enable us to bring in top-tier experts who can clearly demonstrate the environmental, health, and social damage that TxDOT’s plan would inflict on our communities,” Rethink35 Board Member Sasha Sivolob said. “Their testimony will play a crucial role in helping us make the strongest possible case in court.”