Why Expanding I-77 South with New Toll Lanes Is the Wrong Path for Charlotte

November 22, 2025

For more than 60 years, Interstate 77 has been a physical and social barrier in the heart of Charlotte — a highway that sliced through thriving neighborhoods, displaced hundreds of families and businesses, and cut communities off from each other. Its construction caused profound and lasting harm to many of Charlotte’s Black neighborhoods, severing people from schools, parks, jobs, and opportunity.

Now, the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) is proposing to add four more toll lanes to I-77 South between I-277 and I-485. If built, this project would widen the highway’s footprint even further, deepen the divide, and make it harder — not easier — for our city to grow sustainably and equitably.

See the damage for yourself

NCDOT recently released new concept maps showing exactly what this wider highway would look like — including the homes, parks, cemetery land, and businesses that would be taken through eminent domain to make room for it. The public can review these maps and learn more about the proposal on NCDOT’s project page:

👉 Maps of I-77 with Four Toll Lanes

These visuals make something unmistakably clear: the human and community costs of this widening are enormous.

Charlotte deserves better.

Highway widening doesn’t solve congestion — not here, not anywhere

Decades of evidence from across the country show that adding lanes only brings short-term relief before congestion returns. This phenomenon, known as “induced demand,” is well-documented: widening highways simply makes more people drive more often.

Cities that have expanded highways repeatedly — Houston, Atlanta, Los Angeles — remain some of the most congestgested regions in the nation. Charlotte doesn’t need to repeat their mistakes.

If our goal is to reduce travel times, increase access to opportunity, and improve quality of life, doubling down on a 20th-century strategy won’t get us there.

A different vision is possible — one that repairs, reconnects, and restores

Instead of further widening I-77, Charlotte has the chance to heal what was broken. Around the country, cities are choosing restoration over expansion — and the results show what’s possible when communities decide to repair past harm:

Dallas – Klyde Warren Park: A freeway trench was capped with a 5.2-acre public park that reconnected uptown neighborhoods and catalyzed billions in economic development.

Rochester, NY – Inner Loop Removal: The city filled a sunken expressway that cut through downtown, restoring the street grid and creating space for new housing, businesses, and public spaces.

Atlanta – The Stitch (in planning): A proposed three-quarter-mile cap over the Downtown Connector would reconnect neighborhoods and create 14 acres of parks, plazas, and greenspace.

Seattle – Freeway Park: One of the earliest freeway caps in the nation, designed to reconnect the city’s urban core divided by I-5.

Boston – The Big Dig: Perhaps the strongest national model for what’s possible. Boston buried a major highway that once cut through the heart of the city and replaced it with parks, plazas, housing, and people-centered streets. It shows how cities can choose to prioritize residents, businesses, and vibrant public spaces instead of moving more cars and trucks through their urban core.

These projects share a common thread: when communities demand change, leaders act.

Reconnecting neighborhoods is an investment in Charlotte’s future

Covering or burying sections of I-77, restoring crossings, rebuilding walkable street grids, and adding green space would give people safer and more direct access to jobs, education, and opportunity. It would create room for new homes and businesses. It would stitch communities back together after decades of division.

This is what a growing, future-ready, people-centered Charlotte looks like.

A highway widening project does the opposite — it deepens the divide and locks us into the sprawl and traffic patterns that make life harder for everyone.

Local leaders need to hear from the community — now

NCDOT’s proposed toll-lane expansion is moving quickly, and it’s essential for Charlotte residents to speak up. Both Charlotte City Council and the Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization (CRTPO) — the region’s federally designated transportation decision-making body — will play major roles in what happens next.

They need to hear clearly:

Charlotte should not repeat the mistakes of the past.
Charlotte should repair, reconnect, and restore — not widen.

What you can do right now

1. Email City Council and CRTPO Board Members

Tell them you oppose adding toll lanes to I-77 South and instead support reconnecting neighborhoods separated by the highway and capping or burying sections of it, as many cities have done successfully.

Charlotte City Council — Copy + Paste Emails

Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization (CRTPO) Board — Copy + Paste Emails

2. Join the movement to reconnect Charlotte

We’ve formed a growing coalition of neighborhood organizations, nonprofits, and local businesses who believe Charlotte deserves better than another massive highway widening.

If you’re part of an organization that would like to join this coalition, simply reply to this email and let us know.

To stay informed about meetings, public comment opportunities, and ways to take action:

Thanks for reading!

As a nonprofit, community support is essential for us to keep doing what we do — including providing free articles like this. If you found this article helpful, please consider supporting Sustain Charlotte.

Want to stay in the loop? Subscribe to our weekly newsletter and follow us on Instagram and Facebook.