The Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization will vote Wednesday, Sept. 23, on whether to move forward with the $4.3 billion I-77 South toll lane project. Local governments that block it could owe the state a share of nearly $70 million in design costs.

The project would add toll lanes to Interstate 77 from uptown Charlotte to the South Carolina state line. It would be the largest road project in North Carolina history, according to the Charlotte Observer.

The stakes hit close to home for Ballantyne commuters. I-77 South carries more than 160,000 vehicles a day, the highest congestion level in the state, the Observer reported. The N.C. Department of Transportation estimates traffic will grow 25% by 2050 with or without toll lanes.

Mecklenburg County commissioners are also expected to vote Tuesday, Sept. 22, to direct their CRTPO representative on the project, according to a WFAE report. Davidson's town board is expected to vote on its position the same day, the Charlotte Observer reported.

Mecklenburg County has opposed the expansion. Commissioner Leigh Altman, the county's CRTPO representative, said at the August CRTPO meeting that "the community's response has been overwhelmingly negative," as QC News reported Sept. 7.

Opposition now carries a price tag. The North Carolina General Assembly included a state budget provision requiring municipalities that block the project to repay design costs. NCDOT has spent nearly $70 million on design work dating back to November 2018, with planning firm RS&H receiving the largest share at nearly $28 million, the Observer reported.

Charlotte holds a weighted CRTPO vote worth more than 40% of the total. If the city does not back the project, it would shoulder most of that bill, WFAE reported. Charlotte's city council has voted against the toll lanes, though City Councilman Ed Driggs, who represents Charlotte on the CRTPO board, supports them, according to QC News.

The financial threat is not the only pressure. NC Board of Transportation member Stephen Rosenburgh warned at the August CRTPO meeting: "We stop work. That's work in all the jurisdictions that say no. It's not just work on 77. It's all the projects we have in those jurisdictions."

Cornelius, Huntersville and Monroe have already reversed course and indicated support to avoid the penalty, the Charlotte Observer reported. Municipalities that still oppose the project face a state-imposed deadline of Oct. 5 to reconsider.

At an Aug. 6 Mecklenburg County commissioners meeting, Altman said she believes the state legislation illegally strips the regional planning organization's authority over local transportation decisions, WFAE reported at the time.

The CRTPO meets Sept. 23 at 600 East Fourth St. in Charlotte.