House speaker to name select committee on I-77 tolls

House Speaker Tim Moore said Monday that he will name a special select committee to review the state’s options for opposing the Interstate 77 toll contract.

“What we’ll do is review the whole genesis of this project,” Moore, a Kings Mountain Republican, said. “The question is, are we contractually bound to Cintra? What’s the exposure to the state if we pull out of this?”

Construction crews for Cintra – the company building the toll lanes – were scheduled to begin construction at 10 p.m. Monday. The 5-mile work zone will be south of Gilead Road in Huntersville, Exit 23, to just north of Catawba Avenue in Cornelius, Exit 28.

A House committee would be the latest effort to fight the tolls.

Four lawmakers – GOP Sens. Jeff Tarte and David Curtis and Reps. John Bradford and Charles Jeter – last week asked Gov. Pat McCrory to cancel the toll contract. State transportation officials responded that the governor lacked the authority because a local transportation planning group decided to go ahead with the project.

On Friday the lawmakers said they also would pursue a temporary restraining order to stop the work. But Jeter said Monday that hasn’t happened yet and won’t on Monday. It’s unclear when or if such an order would be issued.

Jeter said he’s still looking for a location for next Monday’s “summit” on the project. He’s invited state and local leaders to a Nov. 23 meeting on the project.

Officials at I-77 Mobility Partners, which will manage the toll lanes, said the impact of construction should be minimal for commuters. The first phase of work will be in the median.

A Mobility Partners spokeswoman said this week’s work will involve re-striping lanes.

Occasional lane shifts and closures are planned during the night. Construction of the toll lanes is expected to be completed in 2018, according to I-77 Mobility Partners.

The state has contracted with Spain-based Cintra to build, design and operate the toll lanes. I-77 Mobility Partners is a subsidiary of Cintra.

The $648 million project calls for two toll lanes in each direction between the Brookshire Freeway in Charlotte and the Catawba Avenue exit in Cornelius. One toll lane would continue in each direction to N.C. 150, Exit 36, in Mooresville.

The toll lanes will be in addition to the free, general purpose lanes on I-77.

The project’s opponents haven’t given up their fight. A lawsuit by a group called Widen I-77 is proceeding.

This story was originally published November 16, 2015 at 7:53 AM with the headline "House speaker to name select committee on I-77 tolls."