NCDOT Secretary Unveils Proposals for Controversial I-77 Toll Lane Project

CORNELIUS, N.C. – Get ready to pay up for a faster ride! State transportation leaders say they won’t be putting the brakes on the controversial I-77 toll lane project.

Instead, the state wants to negotiate with Spanish-firm Cintra to get better toll rates for drivers.

They also want to work long-term to take over the project and add more free lanes.

Drivers wanting immediate changes to the project, running from Charlotte to the Lake Norman area, won’t be happy.

“Massively disappointing,” says Sen. Jeff Tarte.

Wednesday, State Transportation Secretary Jim Trogdon told the toll lane advisory board that right now it isn’t feasible to buy out Spanish-firm Cintra.

Instead, in the short-term, he wants to negotiate to get a cap on toll rates and discounts for frequent users.

Long term, he wants to work to add more capacity.

That could include converting one toll lane to a general purpose lane, allowing traffic to drive on the shoulder, and eventually buying out the project.

But there’s no guarantee Cintra will want to negotiate with the state to do any of those things.

There’s also the issue of money. Changes funded by the state would compete with other projects.

“We have to go through a scoring process for those projects to qualify,” Secretary Trogdon
said.

Toll lane opponent and Widen I-77 founder Kurt Naas wants lawmakers to help speed up the process.

“Well it doesn’t sound like it’s going to be a quick path unless the legislature steps in, and that’s the exception we need,” Naas says.

County Commissioner Pat Cotham agrees things need to move faster.

“I have personally seen people just deteriorate on this. The stress level is way too high,” Cotham says.

And drivers like Sally Rock tell me they never wanted toll lanes in the first place.

“I don’t know why anybody would agree to do it, why they would think it would be a good thing,” Rock says.