After local government organizations voted for it, the North Carolina Department of Transportation is taking the next steps to secure a public-private partnership agreement for adding tolled express lanes south of Charlotte.
The proposed project, estimated to cost $3.7 billion, would widen about 11 miles of I-77 to 10 lanes by adding two express lanes in each direction from I-277/N.C. 16 (Brookshire Freeway) in Charlotte to the South Carolina state line. The project was originally identified in 2007.
In October, the Charlotte City Council directed its vote on the Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization Board to support NCDOT’s I-77 South Express Lanes Project as a P3, and the CRTPO later approved the project. Now, NCDOT has formed a working group with CRTPO to develop project objectives and priorities.
In North Carolina, all toll projects must be requested by metropolitan or rural transportation planning organizations.
Analysis from NCDOT had identified a $1.3 billion projected funding gap should the state go with traditional toll delivery and found the available $600 million in federal STIP funding could cover any needed public funding with a P3 project.
WCNC Charlotte reported the express lanes project could be the most expensive in the state’s history, as it would require every interchange on I-77 between Uptown and South Carolina to be rebuilt.
Part of the rationale behind the project is that this stretch of I-77 – last widened in the 1990s from four to six lanes – has crash rates 2.5 times higher than the statewide average for urban interstates. NCDOT found the crashes are directly related to congestion, which is likely to increase.
North Carolina currently has one set of express lanes open: 27 miles from Brookshire Freeway in Mecklenburg County to N.C. 150 in Iredell County, which opened in 2019 and is operated by its developer, I-77 Mobility Partners. One 17-mile set of express lanes is currently under development in south Charlotte, and two other express lanes projects have been proposed along U.S. 74.
