Watch: Sustain Charlotte presents Reimagine I-77 South concepts

On May 14, 2026, Sustain Charlotte Founder and Executive Director Shannon Binns and a team of local design professionals presented concepts from our Reimagine 77 South challenge to members of the Mecklenburg County Commission’s Intergovernmental Relations Committee.

These designs were submitted by members of the Charlotte community who responded to Sustain Charlotte’s challenge earlier this year. Shannon presented a concept from Eric and Megan Orozco, Sustain Charlotte board member Vaama Joshi presented a concept from Gresham Smith, and Matt Weschler presented his concept.

We would like to extend our thanks to every person who submitted ideas for our challenge and to the Mecklenburg County Board of Commissioners for inviting us to share these concepts. You can watch the entire presentation – and here are Shannon’s comments:

Good afternoon, and thank you Commissioner Meier for the invitation to be here, and members of the committee for the opportunity to be here today.

Today is a historic day. And not just because my daughter Edie turns 10 today. But because today we are beginning a long overdue journey — together. A journey to repair and reconnect what was destroyed and disconnected 60 years ago by those who came before us. And personally, I’m excited about the opportunity before us and I hope by the end of our presentation today, you will be too!

Over the past several months, something remarkable has happened in Charlotte.

What started as concern about another highway widening project quickly became something much bigger: A community-wide conversation about healing, reconnection, and the kind of city we want to become. When Sustain Charlotte launched the “Reimagining I-77” design challenge, we honestly did not know what to expect.

But the response was extraordinary.

We received ideas from professional urban designers, architects, planners, engineers, students, neighborhood advocates — and even children as young as 5 years old. And despite all the differences in age, background, and technical expertise, there was a striking common theme running through nearly every submission: People are hungry for a future that reconnects communities rather than further divides them.

Again and again, people imagined parks instead of pavement, public spaces instead of barriers, safer walking and biking connections, greenways, gathering spaces – places where children and families can thrive. Not because they oppose reducing congestion, but because they want transportation investments that improve quality of life and strengthen neighborhoods instead of weakening them.

What became especially clear through this process is that Charlotte residents are not lacking imagination or vision. In fact, the opposite is true.

Once people are invited to imagine something beyond simply widening highways, the possibilities become incredibly exciting and inspiring. Some of the concepts we shared publicly generated enormous engagement online because they sparked something we rarely see in transportation conversations: joy, hope, pride, excitement about what Charlotte could become.

Today, we want to briefly share several of those visions with you before taking a deeper look at three concepts developed by local design professionals who generously volunteered their time and expertise to help our community imagine a different future for this corridor.

Thanks for reading!

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