The list of parties involved in a federal lawsuit against widening Interstate 81 to eight or more lanes throughout western Virginia has grown.

The "Valley Conservation Council" along with six other groups recently joined the lawsuit, because the proposed expansion plan will pave over battlefields, which they feel will affect Valley tourism.

Their goal is to get the Federal Highway Administration to re-open the study so that other alternatives, such as using freight rail, can be considered.

"This is the first time in the 17-year history of the Valley Conservation Council that we've been involved in litigation, and it's really the scale of this project and it's impact on everything in the Valley that drew our board's attention," says John Eckman, Valley Conservation Council.

The lawsuit was filed back in December, and since then VDOT has ended negotiations with a contractor that was proposing to build a tolled truck-way on the corridor.