Opponents of I-77 tolls suffer legal blow

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Opponents of toll lanes on Interstate 77 suffered a legal blow Friday when a state judge dismissed their lawsuit against the North Carolina Department of Transportation.

The opposition group Widen I-77 had argued that the state's contract with Cintra, the Spanish company building the project, was unconstitutional. After several hours of legal arguments, the judge said the contract was legal.

"We're obviously disappointed," said Kurt Naas, who brought the lawsuit in an effort to stop the project.

The project has raised concerns for years among residents of north Mecklenburg, who said the toll lanes will encourage gridlock in free lanes and be too expensive for many drivers.

In court Friday, an attorney hired by Widen I-77 called the toll project "profiteering at its worst."

The judge said that while there remain differing opinions on whether the toll lanes are a good idea, politicians, judges do not need to decide on their future.

"What the judge said in his ruling is that the wisdom of the project is question for the Legislature, not the judiciary," said attorney Mitchell Karlan, who represents Cintra subsidiary I-77 Mobility Partners.

For now, the ruling ends the legal challenge against the project, but the controversy remains.

Groups from north Mecklenburg continue to aggressively lobby Charlotte City Council members days before they vote on whether to support toll lane projects in the Charlotte region.

Naas believes that opponents still have a chance to stop the project.

"When we're able to meet with city council members and explain to them this project, they are starting to come around to our position," Naas said.

But in court Friday, the toll lane project picked up steam.

"We're very pleased, and we're going to continue moving forward," I-77 Mobility Partners spokeswoman Jean Leier said.

In advance of Monday's City Council vote, the NCDOT issued a statement saying that if the toll lane projects are voted down by local authorities, the NCDOT will pull more than $100 million in funding for other transportation projects in the region.

NCDOT statement

If CRTPO votes to no longer support an optional toll lanes strategy for the region:

1. Work would stop on all optional toll lanes projects in the region.

2. The local elected officials that make up CRTPO will have to create and submit for federal approval a new ten-year transportation plan, abandoning the one they created and approved again in August of 2015.

3. Any new projects included in a new ten-year plan, including replacing funded and approved optional toll lane projects with other widening projects, must be submitted for scoring to compete against all other statewide, regional and division level transportation projects for available funding as required by North Carolina state law.

4. $145 million currently being invested in other Mecklenburg/ Iredell County transportation projects will be removed and distributed to other projects across the state as required by North Carolina state law. That $145 million are bonus allocation funds invested in the corridor under state law because the region requested and supported the optional toll lanes concept to help offset transportation costs. Under the law the region is no longer eligible for the funds if the option toll lanes concept is no longer applied.

5. The state will have to pay a cost for cancellation. An independent review, through the State Auditors Office, at the request of legislative members gave estimates of $300 million and $82 million to cancel. (Final cost will depend on a number of factors and litigation and could be higher or lower than the $300 million estimate)

6. The Governor does not have the authority to allocate the estimated total funds required to cancel the project and will ask the General Assembly to determine which taxpayer funding source it will come from which could include taking funds out of current or future transportation investments in the Mecklenburg/ Iredell region.

I-77 toll lanes developer forges ahead with project

As the public outcry against toll lanes on a stretch of Interstate 77 gets louder, the developer told Channel 9 it is trying to drown out the noise and forge ahead until it is told otherwise.

Concrete barriers are going up on I-77 between Exits 28 and 23, and trees are expected to be cleared in the median next week.

"We are here to fulfill what we were brought here to do, (which) is to build this infrastructure and to build these lanes," said I-77 Mobility Partners representative Jean Leier.

The subsidiary of the Spanish company Cintra is wrapping up prep work for construction this week despite the battle over the lanes. It was handed from Gov. McCrory to a local transportation board to decide in two weeks the future of managed lanes projects in the region, including Cintra's project on I-77.

"We continue to move ahead and on schedule," said Leier.

If that board votes against managed lanes, the North Carolina Department of Transportation would take action on the directive immediately and stop further work on the project.

A report this week said termination fees the state would pay to Cintra could range from $82 million to $300 million, but for now, I-77 Mobility Partners continues to address its critics.

"Many times you run into the fear of the unknown, and sometimes it's until you are up and running, then people understand what you are going to do," said Leier.

Some drivers told Channel 9 their problem isn't with the developer, but the ones who hired the company.

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