The Charlotte City Council voted unanimously Monday night to support a state plan to partner with a private company to build and manage express toll lanes on Interstate 77 from uptown to the South Carolina state line.
The N.C. Department of Transportation said it doesn’t have enough money to finance the $3.7 billion project on its own. It wants to partner with a private company, just as it did with the controversial toll lane project on I-77 in north Mecklenburg.
Council members directed the city’s representative on the Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization to support the lanes. And because Charlotte has a weighted vote, the public-private partnership is almost certain to move forward at CRTPO’s next vote, on Wednesday.
The express lanes can give motorists a guaranteed travel time, but the tolls on I-77 North can cost more than $1 a mile during rush hour. Despite that, some council members, like Dimple Ajmera said the project will advance equity.
"We talk about equity all the time," she said. "So this is really an equity issue, because how do we ensure we are being equitable in relieving congestion in all parts of our city?"
The benefit of working with a private company is that the toll lanes can be built sooner.
