The regional transportation board that killed the Interstate 77 South toll lane project in May brought it back Wednesday night, with a state penalty hanging over any local government that kept saying no. The Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization voted to reinstate its request that the N.C. Department of Transportation deliver the project through a public-private partnership, WSOC-TV reported. Only Matthews and Mecklenburg County voted no.
Two board members who had opposed the project then resigned from the board: Matthews Mayor John Higdon, who in May moved to put the vote to withdraw that request on the agenda, and Davidson Mayor Rusty Knox, the board's vice chair, WFAE reported. Knox voted yes Wednesday, in his words "under duress."
"We decided not on the merits of a good or bad DOT project," Knox said, "but on the possibility of being fined because we asked for better."
The bill that changed the votes
The fine Knox meant is a provision Republican legislators wrote into the state budget: local governments that voted against the project would reimburse the state for its design costs dating to 2018. WFAE put that figure at $69.5 million; Charlotte City Attorney Andrea Leslie-Fite gave council the exact number, $69,577,547.67, on Sept. 14.
The bill comes due only if the project stays dead. As WFAE described the provision, bringing the project back meant no one would have to pay, and that includes Matthews and Mecklenburg County, which voted no Wednesday.
The project would add two toll lanes in each direction on 11 miles of I-77, from the South Carolina line to uptown, with the free lanes left in place. WFAE put the estimated cost at $4.3 billion, the most expensive highway project in North Carolina history. Wednesday's vote does not start construction. It restarts environmental analyses, community meetings and formal proposals from developers, and the lanes are projected to open next decade.
Charlotte moved first
Votes on the regional board are weighted by population, and Charlotte holds 31, more than 40 percent of the total and the largest single bloc, as this paper explained in May. The Charlotte City Council voted 7-4 on Monday to rescind its own rejection of the project. Once Charlotte flipped, WFAE reported, the outcome was determined, and the board did not discuss the item in detail Wednesday.
The two council members whose districts hold those 11 miles, Council Member Malcolm Graham of District 2 and Council Member Joi Mayo of District 3, voted against the project in May and for it Monday. Both cited the state's offer of at least $300 million in benefits for west Charlotte. On WFAE's Charlotte Talks on Wednesday morning, Graham called the repayment provision "the poison pill in the state budget."
"Suing the state," Graham said, "was not an option."
He added that even if Charlotte had joined Mecklenburg County in voting no, the city and county probably would not have had the votes to block the project, because Monroe, Cornelius, Huntersville and Davidson had already said they would vote yes.
Higdon cast one of the two no votes. "When legislative power and private influence converge to override local judgment," he said, "the result is not collaborative transportation planning. It's political engineering that rewards the influential few at everyone else's expense." WSOC reported that he also cited what he called unconstitutional state interference and concerns about the benefits package.
What west Charlotte was promised
The benefits: $150 million for a concrete cap over part of the highway near uptown, $50 million for a new recreation center in the Steele Creek area, and $20 million to nonprofits to build grocery stores on West Boulevard and Statesville Avenue. WFAE reported that the city and NCDOT reached a binding agreement on the benefits Tuesday.
Eight days earlier, there was no agreement at all. Asked on Sept. 14 what responsibility the state had to make sure the benefits were delivered, Leslie-Fite told council, "At this time, there is no agreement or requirement by NCDOT," and said the request for proposals to developers would be the binding document, according to the meeting transcript. The Mercury has not obtained the agreement reached Tuesday.
Mecklenburg County is not persuaded by it. "I don't think that this Community Benefits Agreement is airtight," Commissioner Leigh Altman, the county board's vice chair, told WCCB, referring to the benefits deal. "I can see a way out if it becomes inconvenient or difficult for DOT."
Charlotte Mayor Rob Harrington said in a statement after the vote that the city "must move forward together with accountability from leaders for the commitments that have been made, meaningful collaboration, and dedication to sustained community engagement."
What drivers would pay
The toll for a one-way trip at rush hour is unclear. If the rates resemble those on the I-77 North lanes, WFAE estimated, driving the whole new segment could cost $20 to $25. Critics point to the 26 miles of toll lanes in north Mecklenburg, where traffic is still heavy, particularly around Lake Norman.
A third party could still sue to stop the project. The Southern Environmental Law Center has gone to court against two other highways in the region: the Monroe Expressway, which was built, and the Garden Parkway, which was not.