In a split vote Wednesday evening, the Charlotte area transportation planning group approved expanding Interstate 77 toll lanes from uptown to South Carolina through a public-private partnership.
The 11 miles of new lanes would help alleviate traffic congestion and wrecks, members of the Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization said in support of the plan at the Government Center uptown.
The group of elected and other government officials coordinates plans for state and federal highway projects in Mecklenburg, Union and Iredell counties.
On Monday evening, the Charlotte City Council voted unanimously in favor of the public-private partnership option.
CRTPO uses a weighted voting system, so Charlotte’s vote counted for 31 votes – almost half of the 68 votes available. Mecklenburg County commissioners voted 5-4 Tuesday against granting the county’s two votes to the plan.
CRTPO board members representing Cornelius, Davidson, Huntersville, Marvin, Matthews and Weddington also voted against the plan Wednesday evening.
Members from Pineville, Mint Hill, Wesley Chapel, Monroe, Mooresville, Stallings, Indian Trail, Marshville, Waxhaw, Union County and Mineral Springs joined Charlotte in favor of the public-private partnership option.
In voting no, Matthews Mayor John Higdon questioned the potentially high cost of the toll and whether local officials had bothered to ask the General Assembly for more funding to expand the highway.
Drivers would have to choose between sitting in traffic and paying $300 to $400 a month to get to and from work, he said.
“I believe it can be delivered at much lower toll rates,” Higdon said.
Charlotte City Councilman Ed Driggs said the board would never know the answers to such questions if it rejected the plan. The board could always withdraw its motion in the coming months, he said.
The CRTPO board approved the request for the NC Department of Transportation to move forward with the public-private partnership option. According to her motion, the group can withdraw its support “at any time” until NCDOT publicly advertises to potential bidders.
A CRTPO subcommittee will work with state highway officials on the terms of the partnership.
State and regional transportation planners have been exploring adding I-77 South toll lanes since 2007. The CRTPO added the project to its long-term plans in 2014.
The corridor has a crash rate 2.5 times higher than the national average for urban highways, The Charlotte Observer previously reported. That’s because of ever-increasing traffic congestion, highway officials say.
The state has committed $600 million to the project, which is nowhere near the $3.7 billion that NCDOT estimates the new lanes would cost. Even with toll revenues, a public-only approach faces a $1.3 billion funding shortfall, NCDOT officials said.
According to NCDOT, a public-private partnership could resolve the financing issues and begin construction by 2028. The state would own the lanes and work with a contractor to design, build, finance, operate and maintain them.
For example, the existing 26-mile I-77 “express lanes” were constructed from Charlotte to Lake Norman. The lanes improved rush-hour commuting, highway officials said, but four years of construction and the terms of the 50-year contract with private partner Cintra angered many Lake District residents.
