What will Charlotte do next in I-77 fight? New mayor answers questions on tolls
Charlotte’s new leader says “time is of the essence” to figure out how to handle a law that makes municipalities who voted down adding toll lanes to Interstate 77 pay back millions. But Mayor Robert Harrington was noncommittal on Charlotte’s next steps and whether the city will change its position on the controversial project.
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North Carolina’s new budget includes a provision to make the communities who killed adding toll lanes from uptown to the South Carolina state line reimburse the state Department of Transportation for $60 million already spent on the project or lose access to other transportation money.
Gov. Josh Stein signed the budget into law Tuesday despite saying it “makes real the General Assembly’s wrong-headed threats of retribution against Charlotte.”
The provision says the members of the Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization who voted in May to rescind support for the toll lane project have 90 days to reverse their position to avoid paying up.
It calls for local governments to divide the cost based on the value of their weighted CRTPO votes. Representatives of Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, Davidson, Monroe, Cornelius, Matthews, Mint Hill, Huntersville and the Metropolitan Transit Commission voted against the toll lanes. Monroe later reversed its position, and the MTC was dissolved July 1 to be replaced by the new Metropolitan Public Transportation Authority.
In an interview with The Charlotte Observer on Thursday, Harrington said he’s “still working through the bill” with staff including the city manager and city attorney to “to make sure we understand all that’s in there.”
“Time is of the essence in working through it and making sure the community voices are heard, and that’s my priority,” said Harrington, an attorney by trade who took office last week following the resignation of longtime Mayor Vi Lyles.
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The Charlotte City Council initially supported the toll lanes when the CRTPO first signed off on the project in 2024. But the council changed its vote earlier this year following months of pushback from community members over the potential impacts on existing neighborhoods and the environment.
Harrington said he wants to focus on community engagement and transparency as the city determines its next steps while also “making sure that we lean on relationships” with other leaders in the region and maintaining relationships in Raleigh.
“We have a runway now that we need to pull together the community, work on building trust … convening people, and coming up with the best outcome that we can come for the city,” Harrington said. “… I don’t want to prejudge that outcome.”
Charlotte has the biggest weighted vote on the CRTPO, so the city stands to pay the most if it holds its position or has the potential to change the course of the project if it changes its mind again.
Asked if the city will go back to supporting the toll lanes, Harrington reiterated Charlotte needs to “make sure we understand all of the things” in the budget provision “before we charge off.”
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