Project Overview
Project Update
On May 20, 2026, the Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization (CRTPO) rescinded support of the public-private partnership, or P3, funding mechanism to deliver this project. This was the only financially viable delivery method for the project, which CRTPO first submitted to state prioritization in 2014. The project remained unfunded until 2024, when CRTPO voted to advance it using a P3 delivery process.
To maintain compliance with federal fiscal constraint requirements, the N.C. Department of Transportation will remove the project from the 2026-2035 Statewide Transportation Improvement Program, or STIP.
Once the STIP is amended, $600 million previously committed to the project will be made available for other projects across the state competing for funding. The $100 million bonus allocation awarded for the use of tolls will also be redistributed to other projects across the state.
Planning and development are underway to upgrade 11 miles of I-77 from the South Carolina state line to I-277/N.C. 16 (Brookshire Freeway) in Mecklenburg County. The project has a total estimated cost of $3.2 billion, including up to $600 million in state funding.
The proposed improvements include the addition of express lanes, reconstruction of interchanges and non-interchange bridges, and addition of access points and direct connectors to the express lanes.
Per state law, toll projects in North Carolina must be requested and approved by the local planning organization. The Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization submitted this project to the N.C. Department of Transportation for prioritization in 2014.
I-77 is a critical interstate that traverses Charlotte in the north-south direction. It is a major travel corridor for central and western North Carolina as well as the southeastern United States for the movement of both people and goods. Locally, it serves as the most traveled route providing direct access to Uptown Charlotte for residents and businesses. With its current traffic demand, travel times on this segment of I-77 range from 10 minutes to nearly an hour depending on the time of day and direction of travel.
The purpose of the project is to manage congestion by providing an option for reliable travel time along I-77. This includes the implementation of managed travel lanes consistent with recommendations from the
Fast Lanes Study and the Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization’s
2050 Metropolitan Transportation Plan.
Additional benefits include reducing congestion-related crashes, supporting planned economic growth and encouraging transit usage to promote mode shift and improve air quality. The project would also enhance the regional express lanes network with connections to existing express lanes on I-77 and I-485.
I-77 South Express Lanes Introduction
Learn More about Express Lanes in N.C.
Project Funding
This project is listed as Project I-5718 in the
N.C. Department of Transportation's State Transportation Improvement Program as follows;
- South Carolina State Line to I-277/US 74 (Belk Freeway)
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Funded for Preliminary Engineering only in current STIP
- *Funding is subject to change in the upcoming 2028-2037 STIP