New Data Shows New U.S. 460 Would Destroy Almost Four Times the Wetlands Originally Estimated

The Virginia Department of Transportation and its contractor have submitted an application for the proposed new U.S. Route 460 from Petersburg to Suffolk seeking permission to destroy 479 acres of wetlands—nearly four times the estimate in the project’s Environmental Impact Statement. This means that the $1.4 billion, 55-mile section of new highway would result in what appears to be the largest wetlands loss from any Virginia transportation project since the Clean Water Act and its wetlands review became law in 1972.

Read SELC's press release on this issue

Read the Hampton Roads Virginian-Pilot front page story on this issue

Read SELC's letter to the Federal Highway Administration on this issue