Will I-77 South toll lanes happen? Charlotte-area transit board to hear more at meeting
A Charlotte-area transit group on Wednesday will hear more about proposed Interstate 77 toll lanes from I-277 to the South Carolina line.
The Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization is scheduled to receive more information but take no action regarding the lanes at its 6 p.m. meeting at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center, according to the meeting agenda.
The federally funded group coordinates plans for needed state and federal road projects in Mecklenburg, Union and Iredell counties.
Spain-based Cintra, among the world’s largest transportation network developers, made an unsolicited proposal to the N.C. Department of Transportation in March to build and manage the toll or “express” lanes.
Previous project sparked outcry
The company built and manages the 26 miles of I-77 toll lanes from I-277/Brookshire Freeway to Mooresville.
The lanes opened in 2019 after four years of construction and great political fallout to then-Gov. Pat McCrory and many Lake Norman-area elected officials.
The work angered drivers caught in frequent backups during the late-night and early-morning construction. The worst backups meant a two-hour drive from Charlotte to Mooresville – a commute that normally takes about 35 minutes.
Business leaders and other residents had also been long upset with terms of the state’s contract with Cintra, including that no general purpose lanes could be added for 50 years without stiff financial penalty.
Elected officials who supported or didn’t object strongly enough to the lanes lost their seats.
No such opposition has surfaced to the proposal for toll lanes to the South Carolina line.
Information, not approval
Cintra proposes two express lanes on each side of the 9.4-mile leg from I-277 to the I-485 outer intersection, WSOC reported in July, citing documents. The existing number of free general-purpose lanes would remain the same, according to the station.
In July, the Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization passed a motion to have its Technical Coordinating Committee analyze the corridor’s problems and get more information about Cintra’s proposal, The Charlotte Observer previously reported.
The committee consists of transit planners and engineers and makes recommendations to the full planning group.
The current proposal is not a formal bid. Any future contract would require competitive bidding and not be automatically awarded to Cintra, the Observer reported.
“I want to reiterate, this motion is not an approval ... or an endorsement,” CRTPO Vice-Chair Lisa Qualls said in July when the board passed the motion to get more information about the Cintra proposal.
Qualls is an elected town of Mooresville commissioner.
“We are asking for information from TCC on this corridor and from NCDOT to be brought back to us for further consideration,” she said at the time.
Wednesday’s meeting is scheduled for Room 267 on the second floor of the Government Center, 600 E. Fourth St. It will be “in-person only,” meaning it won’t be available remotely, according to the agenda.
This story was originally published October 17, 2022 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Will I-77 South toll lanes happen? Charlotte-area transit board to hear more at meeting."