Charlotte urban loop to be built with help of private funds (WRAL.com)
A public-private partnership will help finish construction on Charlotte’s Interstate 485 outer loop five years sooner than expected and will save the state $50 million to $100 million, Gov. Beverly Perdue said Monday.
Construction could begin by mid-2010 and be complete by 2015.
Unlike plans to use tolls to finance the rest of Interstate 540 in Wake County, the model – the first time the public-private model will be utilized in the state – will require contractors to design and invest in the project and allow the state to move more quickly on other transportation projects, the governor said.
About $50 million of the $540 million needed to complete the last 5 miles of I-485, build an interchange of I-485 with Interstate 85 will come from private financing. The state will pay back the funding in 10 years, Perdue said.
“We are going to build this project without sacrificing or delaying other transportation projects in the state,” she said. “All other loops are important priorities in North Carolina, and we’re not putting any of them on the back burner.”
The rest of the project will be funded with $265 million from the North Carolina Highway Trust Fund and $250 million from federal loans.
The 65-mile I-485 is one of several traffic loops in the state to help ease congestion in urban areas. Interstate 295, for example, is also under construction in Fayetteville, and Interstate 840 is under construction in Greensboro.
In recent years, funding for these projects has been controversial.
Last year, Charlotte transportation leaders asked the Obama administration to freeze federal funding for all state highway projects, claiming the state’s funding formula for loop projects was unfair.
I-540 is the only urban loop being funded by tolls. That decision has been met with mixed reaction from motorists and local leaders.
Tonight at 6, WRAL News’ Bruce Mildwurf looks further into the public-private partnership and whether it could be used to complete I-540.
Posted: Today at 12:46 p.m.
Updated: Today at 2:00 p.m.
