City Council to vote on $3.7 billion widening of I-77 S
UPDATE: On Monday, October 14, Charlotte City Council members voted to direct their delegate to the region’s transportation funding board (CRTPO) to voice the city’s support for starting the process of finding a private developer to build, operate, and maintain new toll lanes on 11 miles of I-77 South, mostly within west Charlotte.
The plan to widen I-77 South to five lanes in either direction has been on NCDOT’s project list for about 20 years. Until recently, it wasn’t considered a viable project due to the high projected cost. But a proposal to put out a bid for a private developer to build, operate, and maintain (known as a “P3” project) the managed lanes is now on the table for Charlotte City Council to vote on this coming Monday, October 14.
At their October 7 meeting, Council members received a presentation by NCDOT staff and were asked by their delegate to the Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization (CRTPO) to lend the City’s support to a vote as the CRTPO considers a public-private partnership to build and operate managed (toll) lanes on I-77 S. Ed Driggs (District 7, R) serves as the City’s delegate to the CRTPO and is also Chair of City Council’s Transportation, Planning and Development Committee.
If Council votes in the affirmative on Monday and the CRTPO vote on the October 16 also passes, the CRTPO will work with NCDOT to create a Request For Qualifications (RFQ) inviting developers to bid on the project. Before the RFQ is circulated, there would be another check-in with the CRTPO and City Council.
The widening of I-77 S would add toll lanes (also known as managed lanes) but no general purpose lanes. It would be much more extensive and expensive than the recent I-77 N toll lanes project, which was also built through a public-private (P3) partnership. The I-77 N project cost around $600 million.
Despite a shorter length, the I-77 S project has a significantly higher estimated cost of $3.7 billion. There are several reasons: this segment is in a more densely populated urban area with more challenging property considerations, all bridges and interchanges would have to be rebuilt to accommodate a new interstate width of at least five lanes (plus accessory lanes in some areas), and annual cost escalations have accelerated since the time the I-77 N lanes were constructed.
The P3 partner firm that builds and operates the lanes would cover the cost, with an expected $600 million state contribution. This $600 million is from the “statewide” tier of the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP), which is typically used for interstate and major highway projects.
In answering several Council members’ questions about the lack of public input in the design of the I-77 N lanes, NCDOT staff expressed a commitment to transparency and a robust public process for developing the RFQ for the I-77 S lanes.
Our take
Sustain Charlotte opposes road widening as a mobility strategy due to the fact that it has been proven not to solve congestion long-term, it generates significant harmful environmental impacts, and there is a lack of equity in the case of toll lanes specifically.
The widening of I-77 S would make driving more attractive due to the temporary congestion relief, which will likely result in even more people choosing to drive. This is known as induced demand. This increase then leads to the same or even greater congestion relatively quickly.
The increase in driving generates greater emissions of dangerous tailpipe emissions that worsen air quality and accelerate climate change.
Taken together, this project would move the City further from achieving both its adopted climate goals and mobility goal to reduce the number of trips taken alone by car.
Further, when driving is made more convenient and easy by widening roads, cities are less likely to invest in transportation choices and residents are less likely to walk, bike, or ride transit. And this has certainly been true in Charlotte. This lack of investment furthers the existing inequity of a transportation system designed for those who are able to drive a car with unsafe and inconvenient options for those who don’t.
The direct financial costs of building, operating, and maintaining the toll lanes would largely be covered by the developer and passed on to only those who choose to use the lanes, rather than all taxpayers.
However, we all experience indirect costs of road widening, including increased air and climate pollution from tailpipe emissions. There is also the potential for increased vehicular traffic on urban streets connected to the widened interstate, which could make those streets less safe for walking and biking if they aren’t redesigned well as part of the project.
Opportunities
The project is likely to move forward to the RFQ stage, based on the response we saw from Council members who are eager for solutions to congestion (although, again, this would only provide a short-term solution). We understand the challenge. Interstate highways serve multiple functions. Interstates function best when they primarily move goods and people quickly across regions. They don’t work as well at moving people within densely populated and rapidly growing urban areas. Forty percent of traffic on this section of I-77 S is from out of state and NCDOT staff cited the growing amount of traffic as a reason for the need to widen.
The public-private partnership approach would allow flexibility in what conditions the CRTPO includes in the request for qualifications (RFQ) to bidders. We believe that the development of the RFQ must incorporate public input from the very beginning, and that any widening of I-77 S must improve safety and connectivity for walking, biking, and public transit.
Create reliable travel routes for public transit & carpooling
The I-77 N lanes allow buses to travel for free, with easy on/off access at several interchanges. This results in fast and reliable travel times for bus riders, even during rush hour. The RFQ should require the bidder to meet these conditions, but it will be even more imperative in the more densely populated I-77 S corridor to have efficient lanes for buses to enter and exit I-77 without getting caught in congestion.
Re-connect West Charlotte with Complete Streets
When I-77 was constructed in the late 1950s, it cut many predominantly Black neighborhoods off from the rest of the city. The barrier of I-77 remains in place today, making it unsafe and, in many cases, impossible to travel from one side to the other without a car.
The new bridges and interchanges should be built as Complete Streets for people of all ages and abilities. This means physically protected bike lanes and sidewalks, signalized intersections with comfortable crossing distances, and design that prioritizes safety for all users over speed. NCDOT should work closely with CDOT, CATS, and Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation to incorporate current and future connectivity within the City’s and County’s transportation and land use plans — and to explore potential new opportunities for enhanced connectivity.
Redesign to prioritize safety
This portion of I-77 has a 2.5 times higher crash rate than the national average for urban interstates. Many of the interchanges were not well designed to handle the current traffic volumes. The new project should not only improve safety for those in cars, but also for people who walk, bike or ride transit across the interstate and on the connecting streets.
We’re still learning more about the proposed project, including its possible negative and positive impacts. To learn more, you can watch the NCDOT presentations and Council discussion here (6:00 minute mark). We will continue to follow this project closely and keep you informed as we advocate for safe and equitable mobility.
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