Charlotte City Council member Malcolm Graham on Monday called for an independent study of alternatives to the existing toll lane plan for improving the Interstate 77 corridor.
The city of Charlotte and the North Carolina Department of Transportation are deadlocked over how to improve the highway, which is one of the state’s most congested.
At the request of City Council member Victoria Watlington, the city has budgeted $300,000 for a year-long study to look at how the region’s transportation decisions are made. The University of North Carolina at Charlotte will conduct that analysis.
But Graham said the city needs a study that looks specifically at I-77 after the city rescinded its support for toll lanes in May. Graham cast a key vote in May against the $4 billion project.
He said residents want other options, other than elevating the toll lanes through uptown as the DOT proposed.
“They want someone else with non-jaundiced eyes to look at it and make a recommendation to the community,” Graham said during a news conference Monday. “I’m not sure what UNC Charlotte has been contracted to do to get us to that point. So I’m talking about something totally different.”
Republican lawmakers in Raleigh are considering legislation that could make Charlotte and other local governments pay back more than $60 million in design costs if the city does not change its mind and support the toll lanes. Republican state Sen. Vickie Sawyer has sponsored a draft amendment that would require Charlotte and other local governments to repay the DOT. It is expected to be included in the state budget bill.
Graham said he’s been talking to lawmakers from both parties about Sawyer’s amendment. He said it’s too early to say how the city might respond if it passes.
Graham also said he’s strongly considering running for mayor in 2027. He said he doesn’t plan to run for his City Council District 2 seat again, and he ruled out many other offices.
There is expected to be a crowded field for mayor next year. The City Council recently appointed attorney Rob Harrington as mayor after Vi Lyles announced she will retire on Tuesday.
Harrington has said he will not run for the job.
