CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- North Carolina Department of Transportation Secretary James Trogdon III was in Charlotte Wednesday to attend the inaugural I-77 Advisory Group meeting.
The group, which formed in November 2017, gathered at the Lake Norman Chamber of Commerce and included representatives from Charlotte, Huntersville, Cornelius, Mooresville, Iredell County, Mecklenburg County as well as several chambers of commerce.
The group plans to review findings of the Mercator report, an independent review of the 26-mile long I-77 toll lane project, to come up with a plan on how to proceed.
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The report took an in-depth look at the project and its contract. The study also paid special attention to public concern, saying “much of the public frustration with the Express Lanes Project can be attributed to the limited opportunity for public input during the project development period.”
Although, the I-77 project was found to be “consistent with the approach taken by other state departments of transportation,” the report discovered public officials were very outspoken against the construction project, moreso than they typically see.
After hearing input from the public, the Mercator Advisory Group’s final report included seven options for the advisory to group to consider. Those options, however are just that, ideas. That is where the advisory board comes in -- to take a closer look.
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“Nothing is off the table, and so what we’re starting to do is that, deep analysis on, ‘Ok, how much is the cost of this? What is the timeline? What are some of the advantages, what are the disadvantages of each option,'” said NCDOT Secretary Trogdon.
One of the options, dubbed "complete and delete," would allow crews to complete the project, but then open up the lanes to anyone instead of having toll lanes.
Officials estimated breaking the contract to do that would cost nearly $300 million dollars. NCDOT officials also said there would also be federal consequences since the project was only approved as a toll-lane project.
Secretary Trogdon said the I-77 project is expected to be completed on schedule by the end of November and realizes the clock is ticking for the advisory group to decide the project’s fate.
“I would hope we’ll be able to conclude or at least have the bulk of the work done within the next four to six weeks, and, like I said, we plan on meeting every other week,” saidTrogdon.
To view the entire Mercator report, click here.