$600 million superhighway will ease Charlotte-area traffic woes, NCDOT says
Planning and design work has begun for a $600-million, four-lane superhighway spanning three counties in the Lake Norman area, state highway officials said this week.
Expanding N.C. 73 from Lincoln County at the lake into Mecklenburg and Cabarrus counties is vital to handling up to a 60%-percent increase in traffic expected by 2040, North Carolina Department of Transportation officials say.
“As the only Catawba River crossing between N.C. 150 (in Mooresville) and N.C. 16 (in eastern Lincoln County, not including Denver), N.C. 73 is a regionally important route,” NCDOT says on the project page.
The 22-mile project also includes improving the I-77 Exit 25 interchange at N.C. 73/Sam Furr Road near Birkdale Village in Huntersville.
The project calls for an 8.5-mile, $303-million widening of N.C. 73 from N.C. 16 in Lincoln County to Northcross Drive in Huntersville. Construction of that leg is expected to start in 2026, with the completion date still to be determined, according to NCDOT.
That part of the project is listed and funded in NCDOT’s 2026-2035 long-range transportation plan, called the State Transportation Improvement Program, officials said.
Planning and design work also is underway to widen the second part of the project, a 14-mile, $348-million stretch from N.C. 115 (Old Statesville Road) in Huntersville to U.S. 29 (Concord Parkway North) in Mecklenburg and Cabarrus counties, according to NCDOT.
Construction on that stretch also is expected to begin in 2026, with the completion date undetermined, officials said.
NCDOT has scheduled open house meetings to update residents on its plans to widen N.C. 73 from two lanes into a four-lane divided highway, which take place Tuesday, Nov. 14 from 2-4 p.m and 5-7 p.m., at Lake Norman Baptist Church, 7921 Sam Furr Road in Huntersville.
