NCDOT says toll lane design has not been finalized

CHARLOTTE — As neighborhood and community groups voice opposition to the southern portion of the Interstate 77 toll project, the North Carolina Department of Transportation is stressing no final decision has been made on the design of the lanes.

Initial renderings and design maps for the 11 miles project have caused concern. The maps show the highway project running through many homes and neighborhoods. In Uptown, signs also warn of potential changes to Frazier Park.

“This is the most complex and expensive transportation project in North Carolina’s history, currently estimated at $3.2 billion,” NCDOT Division 10 Engineer Felix Obregon said. “Widening a major interstate in a dense urban corridor presents unique challenges from limited space and rising costs to coordinating utilities and minimizing negative impacts to adjacent neighborhoods.

NCDOT says since January, its project team has met with over 800 residents in 25 small group meetings. NCDOT is planning to increase community engagement and stresses no final decisions have been made about designs.

“The voices of people who live and work along this corridor are helping shape this project.”

The developer is expected to be selected by the end of 2027. Construction won’t start until the 2030s.

For Toria Burch, this all seems like a bad case of déjà vu. She walked Channel 9 Government Reporter Joe Bruno through the neighborhood she grew up in, McCrorey Heights.

Highway construction changed the neighborhood once. It threatens to do it again

“Can you imagine an off ramp of I-77 right here?” Burch said standing in the middle of the street where she says one could potentially go.

The massive project calls for elevated lanes in certain sections and elaborate designs in others. No matter the final design, it seems like places, including Uptown’s Frazier Park and Pinewood Cemetary will be impacted. So will neighborhoods like McCrorey Heights.

In McCorey Heights, there are painful signs of the past when highway construction split the neighborhood in two. Burch is hopeful NCDOT is listening to residents and will make changes.

“I am hopeful we can voice our opinions and they will listen and they will tweak it,” she said. “It can’t be that urgent.”

Charlotte City Councilman Malcolm Graham shares the concerns.

“We’ve done this before, here we are doing it again,” he said. “Both images I saw were kind of unacceptable to me. It’s going to cause some pain and problems for a lot of folks.”

Two public meetings are scheduled for:

Wednesday, Nov. 12, 4-7 p.m.: Johnson C. Smith University Smith Tech-Innovation Center, Room 322, 100 Beatties Ford Road.

Thursday, Nov. 13, 4-7 p.m.: Silver Mount Baptist Church, 501 West Arrowood Road.

VIDEO: The cost of saving time: Amid high prices, NCDOT says I-77 toll lanes are ‘effective’

The cost of saving time: Amid high prices, NCDOT says I-77 toll lanes are ‘effective’

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