NCDOT Holding Public Meetings on I-485 Toll Lane Project

MATTHEWS, N.C. – NCDOT wants to hear from you before it begins construction on I-485 toll lanes. Hundreds showed up at a public meeting Wednesday night in Matthews.

The plan is to add tolls to a 17-mile stretch of unused lanes on I-485 between Pineville and Matthews.

NCDOT estimates up to 140,000 vehicles travel there each day.

“It’s just a nightmare if you’re on I-485 at 5:00 in the afternoon,” says Weddington resident Alix Phillips.

She left the meeting happy about the plan.

“It should have been (done) awhile ago,” Phillips says.

The project will cost nearly $290 million which includes designated exit ramps at Westinghouse Boulevard and Johnston Road.

The work should be finished by 2023.

Some like Charles Talley are skeptical. He drove on toll lanes up north.

“Once you have a toll, that’s a revenue stream, they’re not gonna want to get rid of that revenue stream,” Talley says.

In his opinion, it didn’t help traffic there.

“The roads didn’t get any better and the traffic didn’t get any lighter,” he says.

But NCDOT believes toll lanes could remove up to 1500 cars per hour from existing lanes, which will remain free.

Drivers are being promised a minimum 45 mile-per-hour speed in the toll lanes.

The price will change depending on demand and time of day.

Unlike the controversial I-77 toll lane project, which will be operated by Spanish firm Cintra, the I-485 project will be run by the North Carolina Turnpike Authority.

They argue they’ve had success in the eastern part of the state.

“We’ve gotten a lot of favorable comments on the facility in Raleigh, the usage of that facility is up tremendously,” says Rodger Rochelle.

There will be another public meeting on I-485 toll lanes Thursday night.

It’s from 4:00pm until 7:00pm at Pineville United Methodist Church.

If you can’t attend, NCDOT is also asking for feedback here.