State resists criticism of Corridor K plan

An environmental group has declared the Ocoee region among the 10 most endangered places in the South because of road plans -- specifically a four-lane option known as Corridor K.

But Tennessee Department of Transportation officials say the Southern Environmental Law Center didn't do its homework: The plan the center based its declaration on was scrapped seven years ago.

Calling the group's announcement last week "misleading" and "inaccurate," TDOT spokeswoman Jennifer Flynn said the environmental impact statement the group based its report on was rescinded in 2003 by the Federal Highway Administration.

"We're basically starting the project again from scratch," she said. "The four-lane project is dead. It's not on the table."

Southern Environmental Law Center land use attorney D.J. Gerken said the group applauded that decision in a press statement posted on its Web site two days after its Top 10 list was published.

But Mr. Gerken said the advocacy organization is not convinced that a four-lane route is completely off the table.

"Just to clarify, they're still considering a four-lane. They're just also considering smaller footprints," he said. "They're looking at two-lane options on the existing footprint, four-lane options on the existing footprint, new four-lane roads -- it's all in there on the table."

Corridor K, a four-lane highway from Chattanooga to Asheville, N.C., is largely complete except for the mountainous segments, including the Ocoee Gorge. Those are the toughest environmentally and costliest to build.

The SELC's initial announcement said what it called unnecessary four-lane highways in the region would "devastate wildlife habitat, and bring traffic and polluted runoff to forests, recreation and wilderness areas."

On Wednesday, the group posted an announcement hailing the "right-sizing" of a "massive mountain highway."

"The Departments of Transportation in Tennessee and North Carolina are now studying, among other options, ways to complete the Corridor K project between Chattanooga and Asheville by improving existing roads instead of building stretches of new four-lane highway through mostly new terrain, a proposal which has drawn regionwide opposition."

Ms. Flynn said "nothing has been decided."

"There's no four-lane, no two-lane, no location, no anything," she said. "It's just being worked through with the citizens resource team and the agencies involved."

The state is planning public Feb. 16 and 17 in Benton and Copperhill, Ms. Flynn said.

She said the team is considering everything anew, including doing nothing.

"We're thrilled that they are looking at a broader range of alternatives," Mr. Gerken said Thursday. "Now it's time to make the right call."