Gust said there’s a misunderstanding about the purpose of the funds, which must pay for new roadway, but not necessarily new routes.

“Does there have to be a road through the marsh? No. Does something have to be expanded for the majors money? Yes,” he said. “You would have to increase capacity in some way, but it could be along existing routes... It doesn’t need to be new roads.”

Still, some question whether a DOT study could result in any recommendation other than a new road.

“When they talk about having all the options on the table, that’s a false statement,” said Charley Weeth, president of Livable Neighborhoods, a community group that formed in opposition to the North-South corridor back in 1988. “The politics are build roads, build roads, build roads. Ribbon cuttings are so much sexier.”

Gust said the DOT follows an Environmental Protection Agency planning process that calls for an examination of every alternative.

“I can’t eliminate anything up front until I look at it,” he said.

But most local leaders agree that a study resulting another North-South corridor is pointless.