Judge Says I-77 Toll Lane Project Constitutional

CHARLOTTE, NC — Charlotte City Council will decide Monday whether to ask Governor Pat McCrory to cancel the controversial I-77 toll lanes project. A judge denied a challenge by Widen 1-77 Friday to stop the plan.

Now political leaders have to decide whether to cancel the project and pay as much as $300 million taxpayer dollars to the developers.

“I believe it’s the governor’s responsibility,” said County Commissioner Pat Cotham.

“He’s shirking it. He’s passing it on to the city council, and I believe the city council are Democrats,” said Cotham. “If it does happen and it’s a disaster, he’ll say blame the Democrats. So, I think that’s a political strategy.”

Governor McCrory previously asked the Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization to decide the project’s fate since members approved Spain-based company Cintra to build a toll from Uptown to Mooresville.

In court Friday, Widen I-77 attorneys argued the project is unconstitutional, in part, because a private developer would be setting the price to drive on a public road.

Attorneys for the toll developer Mobility Partners argued the public purpose is building roads and providing a highway that will cut down congestion.

The judge sided with NCDOT and Mobility Partners.

Widen I-77 Attorney Kurt Naas says the group will have to persuade city council that canceling the project is worth the cost, since under contract, Mobility Partners can try to stop the state from widening the highway with free lanes over the next 50 years.

“They understand that this is a bad project for the region,” said Naas.