CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Charlotteans will soon have a better idea if toll lanes could be built south of Charlotte on Interstate 77 heading into South Carolina.
The Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization board will vote on Monday on a public-private partnership plan to build express lanes. If the board votes against moving forward with the public-private plan, the North Carolina Department of Transportation said research and work on the express lanes project would stop.
NCDOT said the reason behind the paid toll lanes is the department cannot afford to pay more than $600 million for the lanes, which come with a price tag of more than $3.7 billion. If transportation officials find a private developer for the job, the state would contribute $600 million and the private company would cover the rest.
Officials told WCNC Charlotte the express lanes would be the most expensive transportation project in state history, partly because every interchange on I-77 between Uptown and South Carolina would need to be rebuilt.
“What they have been doing in Raleigh is just wrestling with this disparity between their declining revenues because of the gas tax going down and the increasing number of projects and the cost of the projects on the other side," Ed Driggs, the Charlotte city councilman who represents the city on the board, previously said.
Driggs said with this plan, the people who choose to use toll lanes have to pay for the cost of the road, instead of taxpayers.
The board is comprised of elected leaders from Charlotte, the county and surrounding towns. Based on population, Charlotte's vote has the biggest impact on the decision.
"Charlotte has 31 out of 68 votes and therefore is heavily weighted in terms of the outcome of the decision," Driggs previously said.
For the last year, financial advisors have been analyzing the best way to move forward with the proposal to build NC Quick Pass lanes between Uptown and the South Carolina border. The options were to use state money or to partner with a private developer. A few years ago, the developer behind the I-77 express lanes north of Uptown asked to build the southern lanes. However, local leaders previously said if they move forward with the project, they will open the bid to every company that’s qualified.
According to I-77 Mobility Partners, which owns the northern express lanes, about 300,000 drivers use them a month. The company's recent report also says speeds in general lanes have increased 15% since its express lanes were built. Express lanes on I-485 starting near the South Carolina state line and traveling to Independence Boulevard in Matthews are already under construction.
Contact Julia Kauffman at jkauffman@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.
Contact Richard DeVayne at rdevayne@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, X and Instagram.