Pulling support from the 77 Express Lanes project could cost taxpayers

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Charlotte City Council appears to be divided on the next step to ease congestion on 77 South, but voting against the project could cost citizens up to $69 million dollars.

“The city has not asked how many citizens support this,” Council member Renee Johnson from District 4 said. “This is not a small subset of people. I’ve not heard anyone other than the business community who supports it.”

The majority of council voted to remove support for funding the project back in May. The state legislature passed a measure in the state budget that would force municipalities that removed support to pay back the money that had already been invested in the project. This month, NCDOT released documents that claimed they had spent more than $69 million since 2018.

City staff floated the idea of raising taxes or taking out a bond to pay back the penalty. The city attorney says the city would argue that the city shouldn’t be liable for money spent before 2024.

“As the chairman of the budget committee, I can tell the citizens that we don’t have $60 or $70 million laying around,” Councilman Malcolm Graham from District 2 said. “I am not willing to raise taxes to pay that fee.”

NCDOT planned to add new express lanes between Uptown and the South Carolina state line. The plan would have built through some neighborhoods and parks. The state’s plan included corridor improvements like bike lanes and wider sidewalks, but some council members say that’s not enough.

“We do need to relieve congestion, make our road safer, make this corridor safer, and protect working families in small businesses,” Councilman JD Mazuera Arias, District 5 Representative said. “I believe we share that commitment to ensuring that historical harms are not repeated.”

Other council members say the 77 project should move forward in order to keep the state engaged on future traffic solutions.

“Is this project great? Not completely, but there are opportunities,” Councilwoman Joi Mayo, District 3 said. “I hope that everyone will actually do the research and not just be so quick to condemn.”

Councilmembers will vote on support for 77 next Monday. The Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization will vote a couple days later.

The state is giving municipalities a deadline of October 5th to reinstate support or pay up $69 million dollars split between the areas that voted against it.