Construction on new lane for I-77 to get under way in three-plus years
I-77’s high-occupancy vehicle lanes are expected to become toll lanes up to Exit 28 in Cornelius, according to the Lake Norman Transportation Commission. The $64.6 million project, which is expected to be approved in July by the N.C. Board of Transportation, will get under way in less than four years. The HOV lanes now extend from Charlotte to near I-485 south of Huntersville, both northbound and southbound.
Construction would take about three years. According to Carroll Gray, executive director of the LNTC, the toll lanes would be free to vehicles carrying at least two people. CATS buses and van pools would also use the lanes without charge. Motorists traveling alone could use the lanes if they pay a toll. Tolls would be highest during the most congested traffic periods.
Widening I-77 has always been a top priority of the Town for several years.
Cornelius Mayor Jeff Tarte says NCDOT has “always recognized the importance of I-77 to our region and that it is in need of significant relief.” He said funding a widening project from I-485 to I-40 has been projected to cost in excess of $200 million, leaving NC DOT with no other option than to push this project out 20 years.
“No toll booths. NCDOT is likely to use a combinations of technologies like cameras to read your license plate and transponders to read a device you place in your windshield to record when a single occupant is driving in the HOT lane”
—Mayor Jeff Tarte
Tarte credited “some creative thinking from the Secretary of Transportation’s office and NC DOT’s division office in Albemarle, along with some healthy encouragement from local officials” for pushing the project along.
The NCDOT plan calls for the managed lanes to continue from I-485 north to Exit 28. The existing High Occupancy Vehicle lanes will be converted to High Occupancy Toll lanes. HOT lanes work like the existing HOV lanes–multiple occupant vehicles will still be able to ride in the managed lane for free.
The toll comes into play when a single-occupant vehicle uses the managed lane. The driver must pay a toll. Single-occupant vehicles do not have the option of riding in the HOV lanes.
“While conventional wisdom prefers another lane, the revenues generated by the HOT lane will help pay for the project, considerably accelerating the addition of another lane on I-77. Also, studies show that there are both short and long-term benefits from a managed lane,” Tarte said.
(Cornelius Today)
3-27-12
