Charlotte has 3 of the worst highway bottlenecks for trucks in the US, study says
Pay no heed, Charlotteans, to transplants who say we have it a lot better than they did when it comes to congestion on our highways. Proof came this week that stretches of our interstates rank among the worst.
The Charlotte area has three of the top truck bottlenecks in the U.S., a national study revealed. Although the study called it “truck bottlenecks,” frustrated car drivers are included in the congestion, too.
Interstate 77, in Huntersville near Lake Norman, is the worst of the three, ranking 31st on the annual list of “Top 100 Truck Bottlenecks” by the American Transportation Research Institute. Founded in 1954, the institute is headquartered in Washington, D.C., with offices in Atlanta, Minneapolis and Sacramento, California.
The not-for-profit institute collects and analyzes truck GPS data to help Congress and other road-funding decision makers “better understand how congestion and delays constrain mobility on the U.S. highway transportation system,” according to its website.
Slow peak commuter speeds around Charlotte
Also making the list that nobody wants to be on were Interstate 85 at I-485 (West), 43rd; and I-77 at I-485 (South), 44th.
The Lake Norman stretch of I-77 averaged a peak commuter hour speed of 26.9 mph, I-85 at I-485 38 mph and I-77 at I-485 40.7 mph, according to the study.
Peak commuting speeds worsened from 2024-25 to 2025-26 on the three Charlotte-area highways by a respective 5.6%, 8% and 3.1%, the report showed.
Two South Carolina highway stretches also made the list: I-85 at Interstate 385 in Greenville, 36th; and Interstate 26 at Interstate 526 in Charleston, 86th.
At least we’re not Atlanta, where highways ranked third, fifth and sixth worst.
Interstate 294 at Interstate 290/Interstate 88 in Chicago topped the list, followed by Interstate 95 in Fort Lee, New Jersey.
This story was originally published February 20, 2026 at 5:45 AM.