PHOENIX — A challenge to plans to build the 280-mile Interstate 11 project from Nogales to Wickenburg has survived a key legal challenge.
In a new ruling, U.S. District Court Judge John Hinderaker rejected arguments by the Federal Highway Administration and the Arizona Department of Transportation that any legal objection is premature. The federal agency insisted that no final decisions have been made where to place the new road.
But the judge said it is clear the Federal Highway Administration, which makes the initial determination, already concluded that neither the Ironwood Forest or Sonoran Desert national monuments qualified for special consideration under federal law that would require it to study whether the highway should be placed elsewhere.
