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Opponents protest I-77 toll lanes

A small group of opponents of the I-77 tolls (from left) Vallee Bubak, Sharon Hudson, and Carole Gibbons, walked from the N.C. State Capitol to the Administration Office Building on Tuesday in an effort to give Gov. Pat McCrory 5,000 petitions from state residents. They also handed out leaflets at the N.C. General Assembly, urging lawmakers to defund and cancel the $655 million project.
A small group of opponents of the I-77 tolls (from left) Vallee Bubak, Sharon Hudson, and Carole Gibbons, walked from the N.C. State Capitol to the Administration Office Building on Tuesday in an effort to give Gov. Pat McCrory 5,000 petitions from state residents. They also handed out leaflets at the N.C. General Assembly, urging lawmakers to defund and cancel the $655 million project. Corey Lowenstein clowenst@newsobserver.com

Interstate 77 toll lane opponents protested the project in Raleigh on Tuesday.

Opponents are hoping to convince legislators to defund and cancel the $655 million project.

“In the past two weeks, four towns and two counties passed resolutions asking for Gov. McCrory to put the brakes on the I-77 tolls,” opponent Vallee Bubak said in a news release.

Officials with the state Department of Transportation said they’re still moving forward with the lanes.

“McCrory needs to respect the will of representatives for 1.5 million people and put an end to the outrageous posturing and misinformation by the NCDOT,” Bubak said.

In a statement, the N.C. Department of Transportation said the project “was unanimously approved and requested by the local transportation planning organization. NCDOT is delivering the project that local planners developed, recommended and still support, along with the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce, based upon the fact that this project will offer drivers more choices for reliable travel time, and help manage traffic on one of the state’s most congested corridors for people and freight.”

The project will convert the existing carpool lanes on I-77 into toll lanes and add a new toll lane in each direction from the Brookshire Freeway in Charlotte to Exit 28 in Cornelius. It will add one toll lane in each direction from Exit 28 to Mooresville Exit 36. Joe Marusak

This story was originally published May 26, 2015 at 7:32 AM with the headline "Opponents protest I-77 toll lanes."

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