Suit Is Aimed at Tax Vote

The Sierra Club on Tuesday sued the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors and the county’s transportation agency to stop a half-cent sales tax measure on the November ballot that is designed to fund new roads.

“This will do nothing to stop gridlock,” said Sierra Club San Gorgonio chapter chairman Allen Bartleman.

The environmental group charged that passage of the measure would contribute to sprawling new development, reduce air quality and jam freeways.

The lawsuit filed in San Bernardino County Superior Court’s central division alleges that the government agencies did not perform adequate reviews of the potential adverse environmental impacts that would be caused by the road projects.

Cheryl Donahue, spokeswoman for San Bernardino Associated Governments, the transportation agency serving all 24 cities in the county, said the measure was designed to cover thousands of road projects over 30 years, and that it was not feasible to conduct full en- vironmental reviews “that would encompass every one of those projects in one docu- ment.”

She said environmental reviews would be done individually for every project. She also said $967 million of an anticipated $5.9 billion in revenue would be earmarked for mass-transit- related projects, which can reduce sprawl.

David Wert, spokesman for the supervisors, said the group’s claim that the funds would increase traffic was “ridiculous.”

“The county already has gridlock,” he said.

“The only way to reduce gridlock is to add to our ... roadways. It’s going to take people four hours to get to work instead of two