Charlotte City Council unanimously supports I-77 widening plan; CRTPO to vote Wednesday

CHARLOTTE (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Charlotte leaders voted unanimously Monday to move forward with contracting a private developer to work alongside the N.C. Department of Transportation to widen Interstate 77 in south Charlotte.

Last week, City Council held a committee discussion meeting to hear the possible options for funding the widening project. Ultimately, the only feasible option is to contract a private developer on the expansion that runs between Exit 11 (Brookshire Freeway) to the South Carolina state line.

Multiple speakers spoke in favor of the project, citing what this would mean for visitors in Charlotte and people who have to take the often congested corridor to and from work every day.

“For the first time since planning started, there is a plan,” said Joe Bost, senior VP of Government Affairs at the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance.

Although Councilmember Tariq Bokhari voted in favor of the policy out of fear of missing out on the additional funding, he voiced his opposition to implementing toll roads and following a similar approach to the northern part of I-77. NCDOT entered a 50-year contract with Cintra for the toll lanes between Charlotte and Mooresville, managed by I77 Mobility Partners.

Bokhari urged the council to take these next 60 days to think of an alternative solution.

“I’ll support the motion moving forward tonight for the sake of finding an innovative way to make a public-private partnership work, but I am completely unsupportive of an approach like we saw on the northern portion of this corridor,” he said.

The unanimous vote was for Councilmember Ed Driggs to take this item to the Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization in support of the NCDOT’s plan for a public-private partnership model.

CRTPO, which has representatives from Mecklenburg, Iredell and Union counties, will have its own vote on Oct. 16 and discuss the next steps.

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