Judge throws out I-64 closure suit

Published Friday, December 28, 2007

ST. LOUIS (AP) - A federal judge yesterday dismissed a St. Louis man’s lawsuit to block the shutdown of a portion of Interstate 64 as part of a massive project to rebuild the roadway.

U.S. District Judge Stephen Limbaugh turned down the request by former St. Louis School Board member Bill Haas a day after a hearing on the suit.

Haas questioned the safety of the proposed shutdown and the economic impact of the project. The Missouri Department of Transportation will close a stretch of the busy interstate starting Wednesday and will keep it closed for as long as a year.

Another stretch of the interstate will close for most or all of 2009.

Federal law requires a plaintiff to have what is called standing to sue - that is, he or she must have been injured, the injury must be connected to the decision being challenged, and there has to be a likelihood that the injury would be remedied by the court’s action.