North Carolina's long-planned and largest transportation project to date, a public-private partnership adding toll lanes to I-77, has been halted amid growing opposition from Charlotte residents.
The Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization last Wednesday voted by a supermajority to withdraw support for a public-private partnership for the controversial I-77 South toll lane project. The board had
CRTPO's vote rescinding the P3 model came nine days after the Charlotte City Council voted 6-5 to pull its support over concerns about the impact on residents. The planning organization makes decisions about regional transportation projects, but Charlotte makes up more than 40% of the board's weighted votes.
The $3.2 billion project would have widened 11 miles of I-77 South, stretching from just north of Charlotte's central business district down to the South Carolina line. The project called for two new express lanes in each direction as well as reconstructed interchanges and non-interchange bridges and new access points and direct connectors to the I77 South Express Lane. The state this year announced it would elevate the express lanes to minimize impact based on community input.
The North Carolina Department of Transportation has not yet cancelled funding for the project, a spokesperson told The Bond Buyer, but said "the P3 funding mechanism is the only financially viable delivery method for the project."
"NCDOT is aware of CRTPO's vote," the spokesperson said in an email. "As we have discussed with [Charlotte] City Council and CRTPO delegates, this vote means the loss of $700M in critical transportation funding designed to address congestion, crash rates and community driven priorities for the Charlotte region. We remain committed to delivering projects that local governments and planners ask us to deliver."
In a
"Upon removal, the approximately $600 million currently programmed for the project would be redistributed to other eligible projects across the state," Johnson said, adding that an additional $100 million of "bonus allocation funding" would no longer be available.
"If this is the pause that the NCDOT needs to bring a better project to the Charlotte region, then maybe that's the answer," said CRTPO board member Rusty Knox, mayor of the town of Davidson, during the board's May 20 meeting.
"Maybe addressing the $600 million cap per corridor project needs to be reviewed," or the project should be tackled in sections, he said.
Knox noted that opponents have flooded the board's inboxes with emails, crowded meetings and logged thousands of phone calls. "We, the members of CRTPO, and NCDOT and the state legislature, make the rules. Why can't we make the rules work for Charlotte?" he said. "We can do better and we should."
The decision by Charlotte's City Council and the CRTPO to pull out of the project illustrates the importance of political opposition to crafting a successful P3. Fifty percent of respondents to a
The I-77 South project would have marked the state's second P3. Its first is 26 miles of express toll lanes along I-77 North, operated by Spanish firm Cintra. The unpopularity of those tolls and the contract with Cintra — which prompted state lawmakers in 2016
I-77 South has been part of CRTPO's long-term transportation plan since 2014 and has undergone years of review. Opposition began mounting in February after the state released updated design plans. Concerns centered largely around the elimination of green spaces, displacement of residents, noise and tolls. Unhappiness with the I-77 North P3 added to the resistance.
The state floated a Request for Qualifications last August and in February announced four shortlisted teams: Carolina Connectors, which included ACS Infrastructure Development and Meridiam; I-77 Cross-State Connectors, led by Plenary, Sacyr, and Shikun & Binui; Queen City Infrastructure Partners led by Acciona, ABP, and Balfour Beatty, and 77SouthLink led by Cintra, John Laing, Star America, and Aberdeen.
NCDOT had expected to request a Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act loan and tax-exempt private activity bonds to help finance the project.
Separately, a potential P3 North Carolina's Mid-Currituck Bridge is on hold along with the rest of the project, the NCDOT spokesperson said. The department's analysis comparing a traditional toll delivery and a P3 delivery showed that neither "is currently financially feasible without additional project funding," the spokesperson said.
"Due to the pending legal challenge of an environmental permit and additional project funding needs, the project schedule will remain uncertain. To reflect this, the project construction let date has been delayed by one year and may continue to be adjusted until a project schedule is determined," the NCDOT said.
