Charlotte can address I-77 without repeating the past | Opinion

Robert McCutcheon is president & CEO of Charlotte Regional Business Alliance:

Charlotte has faced moments like this before.

As our city grows, we are asked to make generational decisions about infrastructure. These decisions shape not only traffic patterns, but neighborhoods, opportunity, and trust.

The debate surrounding the I-77 South project is one of those moments.

Several City Council members have raised serious concerns about displacement, cost escalation, and the painful legacy of highways cutting through historically Black communities. Residents have asked whether Charlotte is repeating mistakes made in the 1960s, when families in the West End were displaced in the name of progress.

Those concerns reflect lived history. They deserve respect. If we are serious about moving forward responsibly, we must begin there.

At the same time, we cannot ignore present realities. More than 160,000 vehicles travel this stretch of I-77 each day. Crash rates along the corridor are significantly higher than the statewide average for urban interstates. Congestion is projected to worsen over time, affecting emergency response, workforce access, and the reliability that small businesses depend on.

The question before us is not simply whether to pause or proceed. The question is how to move forward in a way that strengthens the communities most affected.

Across the Southeast, other cities facing similar tensions have chosen not to abandon infrastructure investments, but to strengthen them. In Charleston, transportation officials adopted a formal Environmental Justice Community Mitigation framework built around principles of cohesion, preservation, enhancement, and revitalization. That framework paired mobility improvements with community-centered strategies such as enhanced relocation services, affordable housing partnerships, workforce development initiatives, and neighborhood infrastructure enhancements.

Charlotte does not need to replicate any single model. But we can learn from the principle. When infrastructure affects communities, mitigation must be structured, transparent, and accountable.

If I-77 South moves forward, it should do so with clearly defined community protections and sustained engagement developed in partnership with residents and city leadership. That includes meaningful dialogue about relocation support, neighborhood connectivity, small business stability, and long-term economic opportunity. It also includes continued transparency around project costs and procurement as the design evolves.

It is also important to recognize what is at stake if the project collapses without a viable alternative. Significant state funding has been committed to this corridor, and there is no other project in the current transportation improvement plan to address I-77 South congestion. Walking away does not eliminate growth pressures. It risks sending investment elsewhere while leaving safety and mobility challenges unresolved for years.

Charlotte deserves more than a binary choice between repeating history and abandoning progress.

We can improve safety, we can enhance mobility, we can protect neighborhoods and we can build trust through structured, community-centered commitments.

As the City Council prepares to discuss this project in the coming weeks, we urge leaders to use that moment not to retreat from the conversation, but to define the clear community protections and accountability measures that must accompany it.

Charlotte has grown before. This time, we must grow wisely.

This story was originally published February 23, 2026 at 7:08 AM.