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I-77 South Toll Lanes and Directed Vote at CRTPO Board Meeting
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INFORMATION CONTACT:
Bjorn Hansen, Planning, Senior Planner - Long Range Planning, 704-283-3690
ACTION REQUESTED:
Establish Board Position on Public Private Partnership (P3) Funding Model for I-77 Widening Project.
PRIOR BOARD ACTIONS:
None.
BACKGROUND:
The Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization (CRTPO) Board has scheduled a vote on September 23 to reconsider its May 2026 vote rescinding support for the I-77 Toll Lanes project’s P3 funding model, effectively ending the project.
The State of North Carolina subsequently passed into law a requirement for all CRTPO members that voted to rescind support to proportionally pay back the NCDOT’s estimated $60+ million in development expenses. All NCDOT projects in development within those jurisdictions would be suspended until the money was repaid. Currently, the only Union County municipality on record opposing the P3 funding model is the City of Monroe and in July directed their CRTPO representative to vote in support of the P3 funding model.
The NCDOT has since communicated to Charlotte that the project’s P3 funding model allows for up to $300 million in additional community investment for greenways, highway capping, recreation facilities, grocery stores, or other mitigations. The source of this money, whether through higher tolls or lower profits for the vendor, has not been described.
CRTPO representatives will present background information on the issue and answer questions from the Board of Commissioners.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
Unknown - a vote opposing the P3 funding model may result in Union County being responsible for reimbursing the NCDOT for a proportional share of the estimated $60+ million in development expenses related to the project. Whether this requirement is legal is also unknown.