By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON, Oct 8 (Reuters) – Local authorities in Arlington, Virginia, sued the US Department of Interior and National Park Service late on Thursday, seeking to block President Donald Trump’s proposed triumphal arch.
The 250-foot (76-meter) arch project modeled on Paris’ Arc de Triomphe and sited near Arlington National Cemetery, just across the Potomac River from Washington, could win approval as early as next month.
The Arlington County governing board said in its lawsuit that the project within a busy traffic corridor will cause “significant harm” to its residents and likely require changes to nearby flight paths.
The suit argues the National Park Service failed to conduct a thorough review and argues it will harm public safety by clogging thoroughfares needed for emergency transport services. “It threatens to increase noise and air pollution in Arlington by necessitating the diversion of certain flights into and out of Reagan National Airport,” the suit added.
The White House and Interior Department did not immediately comment.
The proposed arch would be within the airport’s main approach and departure corridors. The Federal Aviation Administration’s safety determination requires the arch to be marked with the flame atop the structure and floodlight projectors to make it noticeable for pilots. Some aviation experts have raised safety concerns given its proximity to the airport’s main approach and departure corridor.
The FAA dropped an earlier requirement for red obstruction lights, which it generally mandates on buildings more than 200 feet (61 meters) tall near airports, such as the nearby 555-foot (169-meter) Washington Monument.
The arch is part of Trump’s broader push to remake Washington, including renovating the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, redeveloping a golf course in East Potomac Park and adding his name to the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Preservationists say the projects would alter some of the capital’s most prominent historic landmarks.
Three veterans and a military historian have also sued to block the arch, arguing it would destroy the historic sightline between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington National Cemetery.
A federal judge in Washington last month ordered the Trump administration to give 48 hours’ notice before engaging in any activity on the proposed arch site, except for work to identify underground cultural artifacts.
Last month, Trump said he would convert the arch into a military complex capable of deploying drones and positioning snipers.
(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Jacqueline Wong and Lincoln Feast.)
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