MARIEMONT — About 60 people rallied Saturday at Dogwood Park in Mariemont to protest a proposed highway and bridge they feel would threaten one of Southwest Ohio's most precious natural resources — a horseshoe-bend section of the Little Miami River.

        Organized by the local chapter of the Sierra Club, the rally was held to commemorate Earth Day and educate the public about the environmental danger of building a highway that would link Fairfax with Newtown.

        The highway is part of the $800 million Eastern Corridor project, proposed by the Ohio-Kentucky-Indiana Regional Council of Governments.

        It is designed to ease the traffic woes in nearby Newtown, where 20,000 daily drivers pass through the eastern Hamilton County village.

        The plan calls for rerouting Ohio 32 around the village to the north and connecting it with the Beechmont Levee.

        “It is a direct threat to one of the real natural jewels of the area,” said Glen Brand, spokesman for the Sierra Club in Cincinnati.

        An environmental impact statement and preliminary engineering plans are being prepared for the proposed 10-mile highway that would cross the Little Miami just south of Fairfax.

        Mr. Brand said those plans are expected to be released by early 2003.

        The Sierra Club believes the highway would increase traffic congestion and sprawl and worsen air, water and noise pollution in the area.

        Stanley Hedeen, a Xavier University professor, said this section of the Little Miami supports a rich biodiversity of aquatic and terrestrial life.

        “The river is a real treasure for Ohio and the nation, and is too valuable an asset to compromise for sprawl-inducing freeway expansion,” Mr. Hedeen said.

        Mr. Brand said the club supports alternatives to an other highway and bridge over the Little Miami, such as expanded bus service and commuter rails to address traffic congestion in the area.

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