The most consequential transportation vote in the Charlotte region this month won't change a single road in Firethorne, but it resets how the whole area will tackle one of its worst chokepoints. On Wednesday, May 20, the Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization — CRTPO — withdrew its support for the I-77 South toll lanes, all but ending a $3.2 billion expansion from just north of Uptown to the South Carolina line.
The short version:
Off the funded list. The vote pulls I-77 from the N.C. Department of Transportation's ten-year construction program — the list a project has to be on to get built.
The money walks. Transportation Secretary Daniel Johnson had warned Mayor Vi Lyles, in a May 15 letter, that rejection would cost the region roughly $700 million, redistributed across the state. NCDOT confirmed the loss after the vote.
No Plan B. Opponents are floating non-tolled alternatives — bus-on-shoulder, micro-transit, reversible HOV lanes — none funded, none on the state plan.
And the timing is messy: Mayor Lyles has said she'll resign June 30, leaving the next steps to whoever follows her.
The full account, including how CRTPO's weighted system works, is in The Charlotte Mercury's coverage.
Update, June 17: The fight is not over. A bill in Raleigh written by Sen. Vickie Sawyer would require the governments that voted to rescind, including several small towns south of Charlotte, to repay the state an estimated $60 million. The I-77 Repayment Bill Reaches the Small Towns South of Charlotte, Too.