Without Cintra, Chalotte I-77 South Toll Lanes Could Take 25 years...

....if the stars align.

Earlier this week, the Charlotte Ledger had a story about the possible extension of the I-77 Toll Lanes south to the South Carolina line. Recently, Cintra, the company that built the toll lanes from Uptown Charlotte to Mooresville, submitted an unsolicited bid to construct and operate the toll lanes themselves.

Cintra says that if awarded a contract, they could have the toll lanes up and running by 2029. They would then operate the toll lanes on a 50-year lease. NCDOT says it would be in 2029 that they could begin to acquire the right of way. NCDOT also estimated it would take another 15 years to secure all the funding necessary to start construction. Apparently, the state has rules on the available amount of money that can go to a specific project or corridor at one time.

This news led to major heartburn for local leaders, who conceded that on a road that currently averages 160,000 vehicles per day with traffic at or above capacity seven to 11 hours a day, something may need to be done sooner. NCDOT predicts that by 2050 traffic will reach an average of 185,000 vehicles per day, and the highway at or beyond peak capacity 15-17 hours of the day. I need to tell my kids that they better find another way to take their kids to Carowinds in 2040.

So the question is: Do local leaders want to risk the headaches of another contract with Cintra? Or do they sit and wait for NCDOT to hopefully start construction in 20-25 years - hope that the schedule stays on target - and then look for additional funding resources to improve or even hold the timeline. It'll be worth watching; meanwhile, you may want to grab a Snickers.

Sources:

Mecia, Tony. "Adding lanes to I-77 south of uptown could take until 2045 or later, NCDOT says; momentum for privately run toll lanes?" Charlotte Ledger. September 26, 2022.

Comments

Did Caltrans just kill the G26 cutout US Route shields?

The US Route System was formally created by the American Association of State Highway Officials during November 1926. Through the history of the system the only state to which has elected to maintain cutout US Route shields has been California. The G26 series cutout US Route shields have become a favorite in the road enthusiast hobby and are generally considered to be much more visually pleasing than the standard Federal Highway Administration variant. However, the G26 shield series appears to have been killed off on January 18, 2026, when Caltrans updated their Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices. This blog will examine the history of the US Route shield specifications in California and what is happening with the 2026 changes. The blog cover photo is facing towards the terminus of California State Route 136 and at a G26-2 specification US Route 395 shield. In the background Mount Whitney can be seen in the Sierra Nevada range. ...

May 2023 Ontario Trip (Part 3 of 3)

Over the years, I have made plenty of trips to Ontario, crisscrossing the southern, central and eastern parts of the province. Living in Upstate New York, it's pretty easy to visit our neighbor to the north, or is that our neighbor to the west? Ottawa is one of my favorite cities to visit anywhere in the world, plus I've discovered the charm of Kingston, the waterfalls of Hamilton (which is on the same Niagara Escarpment that brings us Niagara Falls), the sheer beauty of the Bruce Peninsula, and more. But I hadn't explored much of Cottage Country. So I decided to change that, and what better time to go than over Memorial Day weekend, when the daylight is long and I have an extra day to explore. On the third and final day of my trip, I started in Huntsville and made my way through Muskoka District and Haliburton County, passing by many lakes along the way. I stopped in towns such as Dorset, Haliburton and Bancroft before making a beeline down to Belleville and then over th...

Ghost Town Tuesday; Nichols, FL

A couple years ago I spent a lot of spare time exploring phosphate mining ghost towns in the Bone Valley of Polk County, Florida. One ghost town in particular called Nichols on Polk County Route 676 west of Mulberry caught my eye due to a relative lack of documentation on ghosttowns.com. Nichols was created in 1905 during the early phosphate mining boom in the Bone Valley region. For the time Nichols was unusual since it had company housing in the Nichols Mine site and private residences outside the gate. Nichols is only about two miles west of Mulberry which probably made it a somewhat reasonable commute even by the wonky standards of the early 20th Century. Most of the Bone Valley region was relatively remote which made commuting or homesteading impractical which is why there are so many ghost towns in the area. The company housing section of Nichols was phased out and abandoned by 1950. The Nichols town site is largely abandoned and could "possibl...

Gribblenation

Search This Blog