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Residents urge council to ask ODOT for an EIS on I‑75 expansion, citing health and equity concerns
Summary
Multiple public commenters told the committee to urge the Ohio Department of Transportation to conduct a formal Environmental Impact Statement for the I‑75 widening, arguing the project would worsen air quality and health outcomes in vulnerable neighborhoods and pointing to an ongoing NEPA lawsuit.
Several residents used the committee's public comment period to urge Cincinnati's council to press the Ohio Department of Transportation to conduct an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed I‑75 expansion.
An attendee who identified only as a public commenter asked why the council has not requested an EIS and argued such a study is the "gold standard" for assessing projects of this scope, especially where communities already face higher asthma rates. The speaker said an EIS would require an examination of alternatives and would likely show that lane expansion worsens congestion through induced demand, worsening air quality, noise and runoff. The commenter cited out‑of‑city examples such as the I‑405 in Los Angeles and the Katy Freeway in Houston as cases where widening did not solve congestion.
A second commenter, introduced in public comment as a young person who has lived in Cincinnati most of their life, also opposed the I‑75 expansion, calling it a "gross misuse of billions of dollars" and saying the project has historically harmed neighborhoods such as the West End. That speaker noted the project is facing a pending NEPA lawsuit and urged elected officials to consider alternatives that prioritize greener, multimodal options.
Neither the committee nor staff announced a formal action or vote on the request for an EIS during the meeting.
What was said at the meeting is limited to the public comments on the record; the committee did not discuss or adopt a formal position on the I‑75 project during this session.
