COLUMBUS — A proposed $77 million highway project would have devastating effects on the Little Miami River corridor, an environmental group charged Tuesday.

        The Ohio Sierra Club listed the Little Miami Scenic River Bridge Crossing among five state highway proposals that most threaten Ohio's environment in a report titled “Leading to Destruction: Ohio's Worst Proposed Highways.”

        The project would increase traffic congestion and urban sprawl over time; and create water, air and noise pollution in one of only three state scenic rivers, said Glen Brand, Midwest Conservation Organizer for the Sierra Club.

        “It wasn't a good idea in the early '70s, and it still isn't a good idea,” Mr. Brand said.

        The proposal calls for a four- to six-lane bridge across the Little Miami near Fairfax that would create a link between Interstate 71 at Red Bank Road and I-275 near Eastgate Mall.

        Although proponents claim the project could solve traffic congestion problems, the construction of a 10-mile highway would increase the amount of traffic in the region, Mr. Brand said.

        Such highway projects create a reduction in congestion over the first three to five years, but then become congested again due to urban sprawl and an increased number of drivers, Mr. Brand said.

        The Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments (OKI) is considering the Little Miami bridge proposal and other alternative systems of transportation, such as expanded public busing and light rail systems, to lessen traffic congestion around Cincinnati.

        “The folks have said, "We have a horrendous traffic problem and we want to solve it over the next 20 years,'” said Dory Montazemi, deputy executive director of OKI.

        More research needs to be done on the Little Miami bridge proposal, and construction would not begin for years, Mr. Montazemi said.

        The Sierra Club historically opposes new bridge projects. Despite that, the group is a member of the task force that drafted the bridge proposal, Mr. Montazemi said.

        “The Sierra Club has been a part of the process since day one and will continue to be part of the process in the future,” he said.

        OKI has asked the Ohio Department of Transportation for a $4 million grant to conduct engineering and environmental impact studies on the Little Miami proposal and others, which are part of the OKI Eastern Corridor study. The state is reviewing the proposals and taking public comment until Sunday.

        The Sierra Club supports OKI proposals for light rail systems and increased systems of public busing, Mr. Brand said.

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