Charlotte City Council Reverses Vote to Support I-77 Toll Lanes

The Charlotte City Council voted 7-4 on Monday to reinstate its support for a $4 billion project to add toll lanes to an 11-mile stretch of Interstate 77 from the South Carolina border to uptown Charlotte. The decision reverses a May vote to halt the effort and ensures the project's likely approval by the Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization on Wednesday.

The reversal followed a bipartisan effort by state officials using a carrot-and-stick approach. The North Carolina Department of Transportation offered a $300 million community benefits package—including affordable housing, retail space, a food market, and a highway cap—to support historically underutilized Black and brown neighborhoods. Simultaneously, Republican legislators passed a budget provision requiring the city to reimburse the state between $64 million and $69.5 million in design costs if it continued to oppose the project.

Council members Malcolm Graham and Joi Mayo switched their previous opposing votes to secure the benefits and avoid the penalty. The vote caused significant unrest in the council chamber, with security escorting shouting protesters from the room. While some leaders view the funding as a correction for historic harms, opponents cited concerns over environmental impacts, noise, and a lack of trust in the state's delivery record.