U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker has recused from presiding over a lawsuit five Little Rock residents filed to halt construction of an $87.3 million project to widen a section of Interstate 630 until the project undergoes an environmental review.
In an order, Baker said the case should be re-assigned because she "has personal relationships with those who may be called as witnesses in this case."
The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge James Moody Jr., who has set a meeting with attorneys involved in the lawsuit for 2:45 p.m.
Baker had set a formal hearing on a motion for a temporary restraining order to stop work on the project, which began Monday.
The plaintiff's lead attorney, Richard Mays of Little Rock, said in an email that Moody's staff described the meeting as informal. Mays said he also was told the hearing on the motion would be held, if necessary, on Monday.
"I think that the [Department of Transportation] is doing their best to get the Hughes Street overpass torn down before the hearing," Mays said. "I'm going to try to get the judge to stop that if that's [the agency's] intention."