CHARLOTTE — A North Carolina Department of Transportation representative is implying that if the toll lane project doesn’t move forward, it could harm Charlotte’s ability to get funding for projects in the future. The comments came during the Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning meeting on Wednesday night.
[ NCDOT opens information center in Charlotte for I-77 toll lanes project ]
At the meeting, Councilman Ed Driggs revealed that Charlotte City Council discussed potential modifications to the Interstate 77 toll lane project in closed session.
“They made suggestions for edits and changes, none of which I thought would cause NCDOT any big heartburn,” Driggs said.
Driggs says the city and county are still debating what exactly they want to see out of the polarizing project. At the same meeting, NCDOT’s representative on the board warned Charlotte could be negatively impacted if the CRTPO backs out of the toll lane project.
“If the city doesn’t want this, then, I, as a board member, I will say, ‘What does the city want?’” NCDOT representative Stephen Rosenburgh said. “Should we be involved in these other projects?”
Shannon Binns, the head of Sustain Charlotte, which is fiercely opposed to the project, takes issue with comments at the meeting that imply other cities stand to benefit from Charlotte’s rejection of this project. State law divvies out transportation funding based on a formula.
“It was clearly a veiled threat. But I don’t know if he was trying to be malicious so much as maybe just uninformed,” Binns said. “We don’t think this is the best use of public money.”
Rosenburgh was talking about the $600 million set aside for the toll lane project and the $100 million in bonus funds that would be released for going through with it.
“If the city doesn’t want this project, Raleigh will take this money tomorrow. Greensboro will take this money tomorrow,” he said. “It is leaving the city and won’t be coming back.”
A spokesperson for NCDOT says the $600 million in funds would be redistributed to other projects, and there would be no guarantee they would return to the region.
Statement from NCDOT:
“NCDOT remains committed to transparency and open communication, continuing to listen and respond to the community, including residents, the city of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, and is actively incorporating feedback into the project design.
“Under state law, transportation funding is allocated through a competitive, statewide process. If a project does not move forward, those funds are redistributed to other projects across the state and are not guaranteed to return to the same region.
“That is why canceling the project would result in the loss of $600 million in statewide funds and $100 million in bonus funds for Mecklenburg County, with no guarantee of these funds returning to the region.
“Opportunities to improve the corridor would be lost, and existing congestion and safety issues would remain unaddressed.”
VIDEO: Charlotte City Council cancels I-77 toll lane project discussion
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