Earlier this month, Mecklenburg voters approved raising the sales tax to 8.25% for a multibillion-dollar transportation plan, with money for roads, buses and trains.
The money generated from that plan, though, doesn’t include the project with the biggest impact in terms of moving people: The $3.2 billion project to build two express toll lanes in each direction on Interstate 77 from uptown to the South Carolina line.
The N.C. Department of Transportation plans to award a contract in 2027 with a private developer to build and manage the lanes. Construction could start in the early 2030s.
But there is some opposition to the highway’s design. The expansion will encroach on some historically Black neighborhoods near uptown, like McCrorey Heights. They’re wary of the expansion. And the group Sustain Charlotte is lobbying the Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization to kill the project.
This issue of Transit Time will look at those concerns - as well as how the project compares with the controversial I-77 toll lane project in north Mecklenburg that opened at the end of 2019.
A different contract than I-77 north
Express toll lanes are designed to give motorists a guaranteed travel time at a variable cost. The price of the toll changes depending on the level of congestion in the free, general purpose lanes. Cities including Dallas, Washington D.C. and Atlanta are increasingly turning to toll lanes as a way to fund highway expansions - and to allow some people to bypass gridlock.
In Charlotte, there are two kinds of toll lane projects: those paid for and run by the state, and those paid for and run by private companies under a state contract. Privately run lanes are less expensive for the state and can be built more quickly than waiting for state money to come available — though they typically cost more to drivers.
The state opened privately managed toll lanes on I-77 in north Mecklenburg in 2019, and privately managed lanes are envisioned for the I-77 south project, too. The DOT plans to open state-managed toll lanes on I-485 in south Charlotte early next year.
The I-77 toll lanes in north Mecklenburg are managed by Cintra, a Spanish firm. Though the state approves some maximum toll rates, the DOT has little say in the day-to-day operation of the lanes and the fluctuation of those rates under the maximum. Cintra is essentially free to set tolls to maximize its revenue, not necessarily to move the most vehicles.
Here’s one way to look at it: Cintra could have nine vehicles pay 10 cents a mile to use its toll lanes. It could make more money charging $1 a mile and having just one car use them.
Despite some skeptics questioning the project’s feasibility last decade, the I-77 toll lanes appear to be doing gangbusters financially.
The toll lanes cost roughly $650 million to build, with the state chipping in roughly $90 million. The lanes have generated roughly $370 million in total revenue since 2019, and the amount of money collected shows no signs of leveling off.
The toll lanes generated $35.1 million in revenue for the second quarter of 2025. That’s a nearly 30% increase compared to the same quarter in 2024.
Cintra has a 50-year contract to manage the lanes.
Brett Canipe with the NC DOT said the state plans to do things differently for I-77 south. He said the contract will have a provision calling for the toll rates to maximize “throughput,” or the number of cars using the lanes — while maintaining 45 mph travel speeds.
“We want to get as many vehicles in those lanes as possible,” he said.
The design controversy
The project is only 11 miles long, but has a massive cost of $3.2 billion. That’s because it’s very difficult to widen the highway through an already dense urban area.
From the South Carolina line to uptown, the design is relatively simple. The express lanes would be built at-grade, mostly encroaching upon industrial and commercial buildings near the highway. Some buildings would be demolished.
But as the highway gets closer to uptown, there’s less room. Here are three key areas along the route and how they would be impacted.
You can see all of the maps for I-77 here.
1. Wilmore
Some homes in Wilmore would be leveled. Much of Spruce Street would be gobbled up by new access roads for the highway.
Here is what the area looks like today:
And here is how the new express toll lanes would encroach on the neighborhood:
The biggest impacts, however, would come on I-77 between the I-277/John Belk interchange south of uptown and the I-277/Brookshire interchange on the north side.
The DOT has proposed two options for that section.
If the express lanes are built at-grade, the highway’s footprint would be the widest. If the toll lanes are elevated, the project’s footprint would be smaller.
2. Frazier Park
Here is what the area looks like today:
And here is the plan for building express lanes at-grade:
And here is the impact to Frazier Park if the toll lanes were elevated:
3. McCrorey Heights
Building the express lanes at-grade would also impact Pinewood Cemetery and part of McCrorey Heights.
If the toll lanes were built at-grade, some homes in historic McCrorey Heights would be demolished or the new ramp, which is in red:
If the toll lanes were elevated, the interchange would stay within the existing footprint today. The road in grey already exists; the candy-striped section represents a new bridge that would be built:
Elevating the toll lanes would also avoid encroaching upon Pinewood Cemetery, though there would be a new bridge adjacent to it.
The DOT said in an interview this week that the designs are preliminary.
“We want to avoid negative impacts as much as possible,” Canipe said. “We simply don’t want to impact people.”
Neighbors question project
At Wednesday’s meeting of the Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization, a number of residents questioned the designs.
McCrorey Heights Neighborhood Association president Sean Langley said the community is experiencing “pure disgust” at another proposed expansion through a historic Black neighborhood and pushed for submerging I-77 underground to reconnect communities.
Third Ward Neighborhood Association president Al Austin said I-77 had already “sliced in half” communities like Lincoln Heights and Druid Hills. He urged the DOT to “restore and not destroy.”
During the meeting, CRTPO member and Mineral Springs Mayor Frederick Becker said the project will likely move forward. But he said I-77 may need “serious, big changes,” such as examining underground options similar to Boston’s Big Dig project that buried a highway near downtown.
