WidenI77.org to Host Information Briefing in Statesville Tonight
The citizen’s group called WidenI77.org that is opposed to tolling Interstate 77 from Charlotte to Mooresville will host an informational meeting on Monday, April 15 at 7:00 p.m. at the Iredell County Government Center, 200 S. Center St. in Statesville, NC. The meeting is open to the public, elected officials, public employees and the media. The group will present a briefing on the group’s March 27 meeting with state legislators and transportation officials in Raleigh. In addition, WidenI77.Org will discuss recent developments and findings pertaining to the state’s plan to widen I-77. The presentation will be from a resident’s point of view and promises to be a significant departure from prior presentations by managed lane consultants and NCDOT officials.
Currently, the State’s solution for widening I-77 calls for contracting with a private, for-profit company. Four companies (with at least three being foreign-owned) are bidding to add two toll lanes in each direction from Charlotte’s Brookshire Exit to Mooresville’s Exit 36. The stretch over the causeway near Davidson will be a single toll lane in each direction. Instead of adding lanes only to the congested stretch between Huntersville’s Exit 23 and Mooresville’s Exit 36, which comprise 13 miles of road, the State’s proposal is to widen I-77 by converting the current HOV lane for two plus passengers and adding an additional lane that will be tolled with “managed pricing” for 27 miles of highway. According to the NCDOT, drivers with three or more passengers will not be charged a toll. The original price tag of $50 million for widening the congested sections of I-77 by the State has ballooned to a $550 million project to be built and operated for profit by a private company. The NCDOT has explained that a smaller project would not be attractive for a private company and therefore the scope of the project had to be expanded.
“Since this stretch of I-77 was constructed more than 40 years ago it has never been widened,” said WidenI77.Org’s Kurt Naas. “Through extensive research, WidenI77.Org has uncovered feasible solutions for addressing the congestion problems for I-77. We went to Raleigh with the understanding of having a private and collaborative meeting with Speaker Thom Tillis to share our ideas. However, when we arrived in Raleigh, we were welcomed by not only Speaker Tillis, but also 40 or more NCDOT traffic officials, paid consultants and elected leaders who have advocated for the toll lanes. While the meeting was not the private and productive discussion that we were promised by the Speaker, and the meeting played out much like other NCDOT and LNTC briefings that have been essentially sales pitches for the toll lanes, we did garner significant information during that visit and through discussions with other leaders in Raleigh. We look forward to sharing this information and recommended solutions on April 3 at the Cornelius Town Hall.”
About WidenI77.Org
Wideni77.Org (www.wideni77.org) is a citizen’s group dedicated to widening I-77 with general purpose lanes and educating the public about the problems and inequity of the HOT lane approach. The group believes toll lanes are an expensive, non-solution that will negatively impact our local economy, increase congestion on the general purpose lanes, an unfairly burden drivers. To learn more about the toll lane proposal and other information pertaining to HOT lane projects in North Carolina, please visit www.wideni77.org or contact us at wideni77@hotmail.com.
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