Charlotte says it needs more time for independent I-77 study as state deadline looms
The Charlotte City Council is weighing whether to finance an independent study looking at Interstate 77 South improvements and the range of options that could be on the table. But consultants say the work would likely take longer than the state-imposed deadline to reconsider the toll lane project.
Read more NC can protect kids from hemp, but a ban would bring new dangers | Opinion
Charlotte withdrew support for the project’s funding in a surprise vote in May, effectively killing it in the eyes of the state. That prompted North Carolina lawmakers to intervene.
Legislation in the recently passed state budget calls for Charlotte — and any other member of the region’s transportation board who voted to rescind support for the toll lanes — to repay the North Carolina Department of Transportation an estimated $64 million it already spent on design costs. Municipalities have until Oct. 5 to reverse course on their decision, or else they’ll have to pay up.
The Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization scheduled a revote for Sept. 23.
City staff presented potential next steps in the I-77 saga during a transportation, planning and development committee meeting Monday that seemed to raise more questions than answers from council members. The city proposed neighborhood-led engagement sessions that would focus on listening to impacted residents rather than presenting information to them.
The presentation also affirmed the possibility of an analysis looking at alternative ways to ease congestion in the I-77 South corridor besides toll lanes and providing a side-by-side comparison with the current proposal.
The council could also opt for a more extensive scope that would include an audit of the data NCDOT used in its analysis and additional alternatives not previously considered. Consultants say that would take three to five months.
“More time would be required than is currently available in this timeframe to complete the work in a meaningful and useful way,” said Rebecca Hefner, the deputy city manager. “Very limited information would be available in the current time frame. That doesn’t mean that the alternatives analysis is completely off the table if council were interested in pursuing it.”
Council members on Monday didn’t appear ready to walk back their decision on the toll lanes.
Read more Mecklenburg sheriff says a death in the jail is under investigation
The City Council plans to continue the discussion during its Aug. 10 business meeting next week, but a final decision is unlikely since council members still have a laundry list of outstanding questions they say they need answered before making that decision.
Councilman Malcolm Graham said he’s still not sure whether the budget legislation forcing them to repay is even legal. And if the city does end up having to pay, where would that money come from in the city budget?
“There has to be trust and confidence in what we’re doing. I’m not sure we can do a whole lot in six weeks that will be respected and accepted by the community,” Graham said. “And so I hope that the governor’s listening and the secretary (of transportation) is listening. We need time.”
Councilwoman Victoria Watlington said she wants to know where I-77 fails, what’s causing the failure and whether an expansion is necessary on the entire stretch of the project’s path, which runs from the Brookshire Freeway near uptown to the South Carolina state line. She said it’s a “no-brainer” that Charlotte cannot conduct a meaningful analysis in the next month and a half that’s different from what they’ve already seen.
“My goal is to get to the right answer that represents the community’s needs,” Watlington said. “I would much rather we make a decision that’s right for the community rather than sign us up for something that folks aren’t ready to get behind, especially to the tune of several billion dollars.”
Ed Driggs, the transportation committee’s chairperson and the Charlotte delegate on the CRTPO, said delaying the decision any further risks losing the $700 million the state committed to the estimated $4.3 billion project.
“It doesn’t mean there is no future. We’re going to have to figure this out somehow,” Driggs said. “I just think that the basis on which we are able to proceed would be different if we go past September and have not changed our position.”
Read more Mecklenburg sheriff says a death in the jail is under investigation
