Proponents of the Whitehurst Freeway are grumbling that Mayor Adrian Fenty, who they once counted as an ally in their fight, broke his word by authorizing further study into the highway’s destruction.

Within weeks, the D.C. Department of Transportation is expected to award a $900,000 contract for an environmental impact statement — a formal follow-up to a feasibility study completed last year on the Whitehurst’s razing. The major new analysis, funded mostly with available federal dollars, will take up to 18 months, according to DDOT officials.