The opening of new lanes on a 17-mile section of I-485 in southern Mecklenburg has been delayed yet again, with the N.C. Department of Transportation saying it now expects them to open by “late 2025” or “winter 2025.”
The department had said last year that it anticipated opening the lanes by “late summer” 2025, so the new timeline represents a delay of at least several months.
The project has been under construction since 2019. The original forecast called for it to be completed by 2022.
NCDOT officials told Transit Time that the latest delay stems from added work to an interchange in Matthews and paving slowdowns caused by cold winter weather.
In an emailed statement, NCDOT spokesman Logen Hodges wrote:
Paving operations have fallen behind in the corridor due to colder temperatures, which aren’t conducive for this type of work. Cooler weather patterns since last fall have contributed to delays.Supplemental work was added at the John Street interchange in Matthews, extending the project limits to mitigate traffic from queuing on the ramps in the design year of 2040. Doing the work now will also not require interrupting traffic in a couple of years.He said NCDOT is “working with the contractor to identify ways to accelerate completion.“
The $346 million project is adding a toll lane in each direction between I-77 and Independence Boulevard (U.S. 74). NCDOT calls the toll lanes “express lanes,” a term that highlights that they are additional lanes and that drivers still have the option for non-tolled regular lanes. The project is also adding one regular lane — or “general-purpose” lane — in each direction between Rea Road and Providence Road in the Ballantyne and Waverly/Rea Farms areas.
Independence tolls pushed back, too
The delay comes as NCDOT is also anticipating pushing back plans to add toll lanes on Independence Boulevard:
- Widening Independence between Idlewild Road and I-485 to add toll lanes was expected to start in 2027, but the latest draft of the state’s road-building plan now lists that project as “not funded.”
- Converting the bus lanes on Independence between I-277 and Idlewild Road, a project that was expected to start in 2029, is now expected to start in 2033, according to the draft plan.
Many state road projects are being pushed back as the state grapples with rising costs.
“We’ve seen substantial cost estimate increases in the last few years, mainly due to inflation, improvements to cost estimating processes and project scope changes,” Hodges said in the email.
Moving ahead on I-77 toll lanes with a private company
A regional transportation planning organization voted last fall to move forward with plans to partner with a private company to add toll lanes on 11 miles of I-77 between uptown and the S.C. line. Local officials said that working with a private company is necessary because NCDOT lacks the $3.7 billion needed to undertake the project on its own. The existing I-77 toll lanes to northern Mecklenburg are run by a private company.
Construction on the I-77 lanes south of uptown could start as soon as 2028, officials said in October.
Tony Mecia is executive editor of The Charlotte Ledger. Reach him at tony@cltledger.com.