Charlotte council wanted to pause the I-77 toll lane project. NCDOT beat them to it
The North Carolina Department of Transportation is delaying its Interstate 77 toll lanes project by several months to make time for additional community engagement, the agency announced in a news release Monday.
The announcement follows mounting pressure from residents and local leaders who said the NCDOT’s process lacked proper transparency and input. Local officials have debated their power to slow the project ever since the transportation department revealed maps late last year showing the interstate expansion caused by adding toll lanes could encroach on historically Black neighborhoods.
Charlotte City Council planned to vote Monday evening — with uncertain authority — to direct NCDOT to take a 60-day pause. The NCDOT beat them to the punch.
“I think they have listened to council members over the last week and a half. These are small steps,” said District 2 Councilman Malcolm Graham. “There’s certainly a lot more work to be done.”
Council members took turns expressing gratitude for the pause and cautious optimism for the outcome it might produce.
Victoria Watlington, councilwoman at-large, said the end result shouldn’t just be a delay in time with no difference in outcome.
NCDOT planned to issue its first requests for proposals to finalist companies this month, which would have been a key step in advancing the project. Those requests are now delayed until June, and NCDOT will instead send “preliminary project information” to shortlisted companies on March 13.
Project design is only about 10 to 15% complete, so it’s not too late to incorporate more community feedback, according to the news release. N.C. Secretary of Transportation Daniel Johnson will host small group meetings with impacted residents and establish a community engagement center where residents can drop in and ask questions, though details on when and where that center will operate have yet to be announced.
Four finalist companies also will use the extra time to meet with residents along the I-77 corridor, Graham said.
Council members said they want NCDOT to use the next three months to “show their homework” and clarify unanswered questions, such as why the department ruled out an underground option, how the project would benefit drivers who won’t rely on toll lanes and whether other alternatives remain on the table.
“I’m hopeful that this 90 days was enough time to beef up our story in the case on how good this is going to be for our community, but also to have legitimate engagement with people and be deeply appreciative of the fact that we are asking them to give up much more than houses,” District 6 councilwoman Kimberly Owens said.
Leading critics in the push against NCDOT’s plan were ultimately disappointed by the outcome Monday, saying they wished for more.
Shannon Binns, who leads the nonprofit Sustain Charlotte and organized opposition voices, said he’s concerned the agency will only use the time to collect feedback rather than explore viable alternatives to adding toll lanes.
McCrorey Heights resident Shauna Bell said she likewise hopes NCDOT won’t remain within the narrow confines of an elevated toll lane plan and will be open to other possibilities. Like the council, she wants to see the transportation department’s logic behind its top choice and why it ruled out others in the first place.
“I feel like we deserve that. To know that you’re not just once again coming and doing what’s easiest to the communities that you thought weren’t going to be loud,” Bell said. “It’s not 1960.”
The City Council will discuss toll lanes with NCDOT leaders during a public transportation committee meeting on Thursday.
Politicians and others weigh in on I-77 South toll plans
Charlotte City Council isn’t the only group seeking a delay in the I-77 project.
Earlier Monday, the Black Political Caucus of Charlotte-Mecklenburg and several residents of McCrorey Heights filed a temporary restraining order against NCDOT requesting a halt to the project.
The goal of the restraining order is to have NCDOT look for alternatives to the project that ensure nearby neighborhoods aren’t negatively impacted.
NCDOT officials said they were aware of the filing and would continue to engage with the community on the design process.
After the caucus’ news conference, NCDOT released a statement noting that homes north of the John Belk Freeway would be preserved. That includes residences in Biddleville, Genesis Park, McCrorey Heights and Wesley Heights.
Besides the caucus, Sean Langley, president of the McCrorey Heights Neighborhood Association, said residents are working with the Southern Environmental Law Center to request a nine-month pause to the project.
And State Senators DeAndrea Salvador and Caleb Theodros, whose districts contain the project, have reached out to Gov. Josh Stein to request a pause.
In the letter, Salvador said her family’s church was relocated due to the construction of I-77. The two senators do not want to see the same thing happen again to Charlotte’s historically Black neighborhoods.
What is the I-77 South plan?
The toll lane project would add express lanes to the 11-mile stretch between the Brookshire Freeway exit and the South Carolina border.
In November, NCDOT released two proposed design plans for the project.
Some of the maps showed roadways going through people’s homes along the corridor. There were also encroachments on the grounds of Pinewood Cemetery, a historically Black cemetery, and Frazier Park in uptown.
NCDOT said it would go with elevating toll lanes in the uptown portion of the project near McCrorey Heights. That plan would see the construction of express lanes either over the interstate or to the side of the interstate.
And that plan was chosen to minimize impact to the adjacent neighborhoods.
But residents say the elevated plan still encroaches on their neighborhood.
“We’re not talking about an ugly structure, that trivializes what’s a stake,” Langley said during a press conference Monday. “This is about our quality of life. It’s about placing a massive concrete structure adjacent to residential neighborhoods that will increase air pollution, increase noise and further degrade the health and well-being of residents who have already lived with environmental consequences of prior highway constructions.”
This story was originally published March 2, 2026 at 8:22 PM.
