Federal and state transportation agencies will halt planning activities for a proposed 280-mile highway between Nogales and Wickenburg in response to a lawsuit brought by conservationists.
The U.S. District Court in Arizona on Wednesday stayed the case brought by conservation groups after the Federal Highway Administration and Arizona Department of Transportation agreed to reevaluate the Interstate 11 project’s compliance with environmental laws.
The proposed I-11 highway will connect to Las Vegas but could eventually span from Mexico to Canada.
“The interstate’s approval was based on a deeply flawed environmental analysis that the Federal Highway Administration now has a chance to fix,” Russ McSpadden, Southwest conservation advocate at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a news release. The center is a plaintiff in the lawsuit. “I hope this agreement will make sure the agencies stop ignoring community concerns about the highway’s threats to plants, wildlife, people and the climate.”
The Arizona Department of Transportation confirmed in a written statement that the agency will work alongside the federal highway agency to reevaluate the environmental impact statement in accordance with federal regulations.
The transportation agencies are considering two route options for the Pima County portion of the highway: one eastern option running along the existing Interstate 10 and one western option that would construct the roadway through undeveloped desert around Saguaro National Park and the Ironwood Forest National Monument.
Among the concerns raised by the environmental groups was the project’s failure to consider the harm to threatened and endangered species, including the cactus ferruginous pygmy owl.
The small brown desert owls were listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 2023 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, after the transportation agencies had completed the environmental review for the I-11 project. The owl subspecies is threatened by habitat fragmentation, urbanization and climate change, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The conservation groups say the project will also harm other protected species such as the western yellow-billed cuckoos, Yuma Ridgway’s rails and southwestern willow flycatchers
“This is an important step toward holding the Federal Highway Administration accountable for the environmental and legal violations tied to Interstate 11,” said Tom Hannagan, board president of Friends of Ironwood Forest, a group acting as a plaintiff in the lawsuit, in a news release. “We won’t stand by and watch our beloved Sonoran Desert be destroyed.”
After the agencies complete the environmental review, they will open a 60-day public comment period.
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John Leos covers environmental issues for The Arizona Republic and azcentral. Send tips or questions to john.leos@arizonarepublic.com.
Environmental coverage on azcentral.com and in The Arizona Republic is supported by a grant from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.
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