N.C. Rep. Jeter calls for I-77 toll-lane summit

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N.C. Rep. Charles Jeter is calling for a summit with state officials to discuss the controversial installation of toll lanes along a 26-mile stretch of Interstate 77.

The meeting would include members of the Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization, which this summer adopted a 10-year plan that backs the $648 million project; state legislators; local politicians; and officials from the N.C. Department of Transportation.

Jeter, a District 92 Republican representing an area covering Huntersville to Lake Wylie, says the transportation department’s contract with Spanish construction company Cintra to build the toll lanes has generated anger and concern among local businesses and residents.

“We’ve got to change the hearts and minds of some people,” Jeter said in a phone interview, adding that many legislators in Raleigh “look at this as a local issue.”

“This is a problem the state has to deal with,” he said, including contract terms that the transportation department says would require it to pay Cintra a $100 million fee if the state opted to cancel the contract without cause.  Jeter likens ascertaining a termination fee based on the agreement’s fair-market value before construction has even begun to “nailing Jell-O to the wall.”

“It’s all speculative,” he said.

Many have called for the state DOT to terminate the 50-year contract. Some describe the toll lanes as elitist, while others have criticized contract provisions that require taxpayers to compensate I-77 Mobility Partners for lost revenue stemming from future improvements, such as the addition of general purpose lanes, on the tract.

Proponents of the deal, meanwhile, say it offers options to drivers maneuvering the clogged interstate at a time of severe shortage in state and federal funding for infrastructure improvements. The DOT says toll lanes will provide more reliable travel times, while “bringing in millions of dollars to the region in jobs and economic development.”

Plans call for building one toll lane in each direction from the Brookshire Freeway near uptown to Exit 36 in Iredell County, and converting the existing high-occupancy vehicle lane between Brookshire and Exit 28 into a toll lane. Construction, which was slated to have begun this summer, will begin Monday, according to Cintra subsidiary I-77 Mobility Partners. It will start between Exit 23 and Exit 28 and will include land clearing and grading.

As for costs, about $95 million for the project will come from taxpayers. Cintra will be responsible for the remainder, including $189 million in federal loans, $100 million in proceeds from private activity bonds and $250 million in private equity.

In addition, the transportation department says it will pay “up to $75 million if toll revenue is dramatically less than project estimates.”

Jeter says he still doesn’t have a definitive date or time for the meeting, but that it will be held before a Nov. 23 deadline.

“I think this summit provides us the most expedited opportunity for all parties related to this project a means to reach a consensus moving forward,” Jeter said in a written statement. “We have a lot of very capable and intelligent people so I feel confident we will make progress.”