Charlotte City Council members Malcolm Graham and Joi Mayo flipped their votes Monday to support the state’s plans to add toll lanes to Interstate 77. Their votes ensured that the City Council backed the project in a 7-4 vote, meaning the 11-mile project is almost certain to be built.
In May, Graham and Mayo voted against the Department of Transportation’s plans to partner with a private developer to build the controversial $4 billion project. They were concerned about the impact on historically Black neighborhoods on Charlotte’s west side, as well as whether the toll lanes were the best way to relieve congestion.
The council’s 6-5 vote against the project in May led the Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization to withdraw its support nine days later. While the project appeared dead, a bipartisan effort in Raleigh brought it back.
The DOT — under Democratic Gov. Josh Stein — offered up to $300 million in “community benefits” to convince Charlotte to support the project. Some of the benefits could include $20 million to nonprofits to build grocery stores on West Boulevard and Statesville Avenue.
The DOT drafted a “memorandum of agreement” on the benefits, which also include $150 million to place a concrete cap over part of the highway near uptown and $50 million for a new recreation center in the Steele Creek area. City officials said the memo is legally binding.
While Stein’s administration offered a carrot, Republican legislators passed a provision in the state budget that would require local governments that vote against the project to reimburse the state for $69.5 million in design costs dating back to 2018. If the project was brought back, no one would have to pay.
Council members Graham, Mayo, Ed Driggs, Dante Anderson, Dimple Ajmera, James Mitchell and Kimberly Owens voted for the toll lanes.
“I understand the power of the state. I understand the legislation that’s written, and I don’t agree with it either,” Graham said, adding that the DOT was out of touch.
But he said the $300 million in community benefits is larger than many budgets of North Carolina municipalities. He said renters and homeowners affected by construction will be compensated.
“No one will be left behind,” he said.
Owens voted for the project, though she said it was an “indictment” of the toll lanes as the DOT has planned them.
The city of Charlotte has 31 of the 74 weighted votes on the CRTPO, which is scheduled to vote Wednesday.
Other council members said the city should have held firm.
Lawana Mayfield, Renee Johnson, J.D. Mazuera Arias and Victoria Watlington voted against the project.
Mayfield compared the DOT’s pledge of community benefits to President Trump’s promise to give all Americans $5,000 after the midterms. Mazuera Arias was also skeptical.
“My district has been here before — take a look at Independence Boulevard,” Mazuera Arias said. “(Our community) has been split in half, yet we have no community benefits? Where is the economic opportunity there?”
He added: “I cannot vote for a project based on an unconstitutional mandate.”
Johnson said council members and taxpayers deserve clear answers on whether the state’s payment is constitutional. “Without those answers, we shouldn’t change our vote,” she said. “Leadership is not cowering.”
About 50 people spoke about I-77. Most were opposed to the project. Many heckled council members who said they planned to vote yes.
Mayor Rob Harrington asked that some in the crowd be removed.
When finished next decade, there will be two new toll lanes in each direction from the South Carolina line to uptown. Motorists can continue to use the heavily congested free lanes.
The DOT has said enough vehicles will use the toll lanes to ease congestion on the free ones. But critics have pointed to the I-77 toll lanes in north Mecklenburg, where traffic is still heavy, especially around Lake Norman.
It’s also unclear how much motorists might have to pay for a one-way trip at rush hour. If the tolls are similar to the I-77 North project, it could cost $20 to $25 to drive the entire segment of the new toll lanes.
Mecklenburg County is expected to vote against the toll lanes at the CRTPO meeting Wednesday.
Other local governments have already announced they plan to switch their votes from “no” to “yes,” including Monroe, Cornelius and Huntersville.
Davidson, which opposed the project in May, is scheduled to discuss I-77 on Tuesday. Matthews also voted against the toll lanes in May. It’s unclear how the town will vote at the CRTPO meeting.
Charlotte City Attorney Andrea Leslie-Fite has said she questions whether the reimbursement provision is legal. But there has been no public discussion among council members about suing the state, and Graham said last week he did not want to file a lawsuit.
Leslie-Fite has also cautioned the city from trying to use money from the newly passed one-cent sales tax for transportation to pay the fine. Though legislation allows sales tax revenue to be used for designing and planning for roads, Leslie-Fite said a better way to repay the money would be from existing city funds.
City staff members have told council members that it could require a property tax increase or cuts to existing projects.
It’s possible that a third party could still sue to stop the toll lanes project. The Southern Environmental Law Center has filed lawsuits to stop other projects, including the proposed Garden Parkway in Gaston County and the Monroe Expressway in Union County. (The Monroe highway was built; the Garden Parkway was not.)
