ATLANTA -- Despite continuing controversy over the proposed presidential parkway that will lead to it, former President Jimmy Carter has raised $23 million in cash and pledges for his library complex.
A Carter aide, Dan Lee, says $25 million is needed.
Carter Presidential Library Inc. began soliciting donations about three years ago. The non-profit, tax-exempt corporation will not release names of contributors, but Lee said half of the contributions have come from Georgians.
Plans call for the presidential parkway to link downtown Atlanta and the complex, which will be built on land near Emory University.
The Federal Highway Administration approved the road last month, but U.S. Rep. Elliott Levitas requested one more environmental review. Levitas' Druid Hill constituents are among the most outspoken opponents of the road.
The Council on Environmental Quality, a three-member panel that reports directly to the White House, has 30 days to determine if concerns about the road are of national or state significance.
If the panel decides the issue is of local concern, the state may begin construction, but if the project is deemed of national importance, it could be delayed indefinitely.
Opponents of the roadway met Tuesday to praise a letter from the Interior Department to the Federal Highway Administration.
'We're not opposed to the road per se, but we think it could be redesigned to have less impact on historic areas,' said Bruce Blanchard, environmental director for the Department of the Interior, in the letter.
'On the east, the road appears to go nowhere,' he said. 'The state's not willing to say it, but it appears they have plans to extend the road someday.'
