Sierra Club ranks best and worst transportation projects for the environment

A prominent environmental group has ranked the best and worst transportation projects in the country for the health of the U.S. environment. 

The list, from the San Francisco-based Sierra Club, is part of the the environmental group's effort to move America "beyond oil."

With that goal in mind, the Sierra Club's "good" project lists includes public transportation like the expansion of Washington, D.C.'s Metrorail subway expansion to Dulles Airport and commuter railways like Orlando, Fla.'s proposed SunRail system. Both railways are currently under construction and scheduled to begin operations in the next few years.

Other projects identified as positive by the Sierra Club include Atlanta, Ga.'s long-sought "Beltline," which is planned as a mix of trails and public transit in a loop around the city, and a proposed streetcar expansion in New Orleans. Funding for the Atlanta Beltline project was included in a transportation tax referendum that was voted down in Atlanta earlier this year.

Projects that were rated "bad" by the Sierra Club included a proposal to expand a road in Cincinnati, Ohio, into a four- or six-lane highway. The Sierra Club said the project, known as the Eastern Corridor Highway, would threaten the Little Miami River.

Also included on the "bad" project list is a proposed "Grand Parkway" in Houston that would form a perimeter around the city. Segments along the proposed highway would disturb wetland animals in Texas, the Sierra Club said.

The Sierra Club's full list of rated transportation projects can be read here, and a map of their locations can be viewed here.

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