In a stunning decision, a supermajority of the Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization’s board voted Wednesday night to rescind its support for the public-private partnership to build toll lanes on Interstate 77.
The vote will end the state’s plans to build toll lanes on I-77, one of the state's busiest and most congested highways, from uptown to the South Carolina state line. The project could have cost over $4 billion, with the state contributing approximately $600 million and the rest coming from a private company that would have built and operated the lanes.
The toll lane vote immediately upends a key pillar of Charlotte's long-range transportation plan and throws the decades-old push to relieve congestion on I-77 in disarray. The toll lanes have been on the books for more than a decade, but support eroded — gradually over the past few months and then all of a sudden in the past 10 days — as historically Black neighborhoods and sustainability advocates joined together to raise questions about the toll lanes' impacts to neighborhoods that would see houses torn down and possible worsening air pollution.
Wednesday's vote was the second surprise this month. The CRTPO had not been scheduled to vote on the project, and it wasn't on the agenda — so the motion needed a 2/3 supermajority to pass.
Last week, the Charlotte City Council made a surprise decision to end its support for the toll lanes. That was a critical decision. But the ultimate power was with the CRTPO board.
Matthews Mayor John Higdon pushed board members on Wednesday to take an immediate vote—because he was worried toll lane supporters would convince someone on the Charlotte City Council to change their mind and go back to supporting toll lanes if the board waited until July to vote.
The city of Charlotte controls more than 40% of the votes on the CRTPO board.
"If somebody, if one of these people in Charlotte, and I’m not questioning the veracity of compassion, if one person changes tomorrow we can’t vote. Well we can vote, but it will not be rescinded — ever," said Higdon.
Higdon overcame a rival motion to hold a briefing in June, hear from NCDOT staff and then consider voting in July. He pushed his colleagues on the CRTPO board to make a final decision on I-77 at Wednesday night’s meeting. His pitch boiled down to: There are enough votes right now to stop the controversial project, and he said any further delays would let toll lane supporters pressure Charlotte City Council members to change their mind.
The toll lanes project has drawn intensifying criticism over the past six months, both for the effect adding two lanes in each direction would have on largely Black neighborhoods west of uptown and for the NCDOT's perceived lack of transparency about the design and planning.
The Black Political Caucus of Charlotte Mecklenburg has vigorously opposed the project.
On Wednesday, the vote followed a sometimes confusing debate. During the roll call, the CRTPO attorney initially announced that it had failed. But the board attorney then realized Higdon’s motion did pass - with the support of Charlotte, Davidson, Cornelius, Huntersville, Mint Hill, Monroe and the Metropolitan Transit Commission.
It’s unclear what will happen next. The DOT has said it can’t build the toll lanes with a private company to finance them, so the current project is dead. North Carolina Department of Transportation Secretary Daniel Johnson warned Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles in a recent letter that if local leaders withdraw support for the Interstate 77 toll lane project, the state would be required to remove it from a long-term transportation plan, potentially sending hundreds of millions of dollars elsewhere.
Vote follows Charlotte reversal
Wednesday's vote came just over a week after Charlotte City Council reversed course and pulled their support. In a 6-5 vote last week, council members directed the city’s representative on a regional transportation planning board to rescind Charlotte’s backing for the project. Council member Renee Johnson made the motion to stop the current version of the plan.
“Leadership means having the courage to revisit decisions when new information, new technology and new concerns demand it,” Johnson said. “Our responsibility isn’t to defend outdated assumptions. Our responsibility is to the people we serve.”
Council members Johnson, Malcolm Graham, J.D. Mazuera Arias, Joi Mayo, Victoria Watlington and LaWana Mayfield voted in favor of rescinding support for the project.
On the other side, council members Kimberly Owens, James Mitchell, Ed Driggs, Dimple Ajmera and Dante Anderson voted against the motion.