NCDOT May Be Open To Burying Roadway As Part Of I-77 Expansion

The North Carolina Department of Transportation has floated allowing parts of the planned I-77 interstate expansion to be constructed underground, after dismissing the idea as too expensive just a month prior, according to a Charlotte Observer report. 

NCDOT indicated that underground expansion of the highway was back on the table during a city of Charlotte transportation committee meeting Thursday and invited developers to get creative about overall plans for how to make the expansion happen.

The transportation department had initially rejected the idea of underground tunnels in early February, Axios reported. The $3.2B expansion project would add two lanes, both north and south, on a section of I-77 spanning 11 miles. 

NCDOT announced last week it would initiate a three-month delay on its request for proposals for the expansion. 

There has been growing pushback to the project from nearby residents, while Charlotte's business community has signaled that abandoning the planned infrastructure investment would stifle local development.

The proposed design for the expansion is only 10% to 15% complete. Final design isn’t expected to be completed until the end of 2027, according to an NCDOT press release.

Current plans call for the interstate to be widened through the southern portion of the city and elevated above uptown, then returning downward to connect with existing toll lanes already open from north of uptown to Iredell County. 

The project was first proposed by the Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization in 2014 and placed on a long-range planning document. 

A public-private funding plan was approved in 2024. It includes $600M of state funding, with the remainder to be funded privately and recovered via commuters’ tolls, the CBJ reported.

Last week, the Black Political Caucus of Charlotte-Mecklenburg, a community advocacy organization, announced it was seeking a temporary restraining order to pause the project. 

Opponents of the plan have criticized the above-ground design favored by NCDOT, saying it would bring increased air and noise pollution to primarily minority neighborhoods and displace residents. For some Charlotte residents, the expansion harkens back to earlier injury done to their neighborhoods. 

Robert McCutcheon, president and CEO of the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance, acknowledged that past highway projects have disproportionately impacted Black neighborhoods in Charlotte in a Feb. 24 op-ed in The Charlotte Observer. However, McCutcheon argued that abandoning the project would forfeit state investment in the city's roads while hurting small businesses, worsening congestion and reducing workforce access. 

"Walking away does not eliminate growth pressures. It risks sending investment elsewhere," McCutcheon stated in the op-ed.

The Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization, made up of regional governments, ultimately must vote on whatever proposal NCDOT puts forward.

Craig Idlebrook contributed to this story.