I-77 Charlotte commute has gotten faster despite backups, more cars, toll operator says

Driving commutes are faster on Interstate 77’s free lanes from Charlotte to Lake Norman, thanks to the toll lanes, an operator told regional highway officials last week.

Rush-hour drive times have improved by 15 minutes since before the lanes opened in 2019, despite daily backups and more vehicles in the free lanes today, I-77 Mobility Partners CEO David Garcia said.

“I-77 Express provides benefits to all drivers along the corridor — not just those who choose to use the express lanes,” Garcia wrote Wednesday to Ron Pappas, chairman of the Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization board.

The federally funded CRTPO coordinates plans for needed state and federal road projects in Mecklenburg, Union and Iredell counties.

I-77 Mobility Partners built and manages the 26 miles of “express” lanes. The company is a subsidiary of Spain-based Cintra, among the world’s largest transportation network developers.

The lanes opened after four years of construction and great political fallout to then-Gov. Pat McCrory and many Lake Norman-area elected officials.

The construction angered drivers caught in frequent two-hour backups. Business leaders and other residents felt the state should have added free lanes and never entered into a 50-year contract with the Cintra firm.

Garcia touted how well the lanes are doing in a cover letter and his company’s 20 pages of responses to 50 questions that CRTPO board members had about the toll lanes.

None of the current CRTPO board members were on the panel when the state entered into the toll lanes agreement and when the lanes were built, CRTPO Executive Director Neil Burke said.

Board members submitted the questions over the past four months to gain a better understanding of how the toll lanes work, with the state Department of Transportation now exploring managed lanes from I-277 to the South Carolina line, he said.

Faster commute

Before construction of the Charlotte-to-Lake Norman lanes began, drivers needed to allot roughly 45 minutes to get from Mooresville to the Queen City during the morning and evening rush hours, and vice versa, Garcia wrote.

Today, the trip takes about 30 minutes in the free lanes, he said.

“And that’s despite an overall increase in traffic volume on the corridor,” Garcia said.

“Meanwhile,” he said, “the hundreds of thousands of drivers who do choose to use the express lanes each month makes clear that a growing number find value in paying a reasonable toll rate for increased reliability.”

Faster speeds

Average weekday speeds have increased 15% in the general purpose lanes since before the toll lanes were built, I-77 Mobility Partners reported last week.

CRTPO board member Leigh Altman, a Mecklenburg County commissioner, asked how average speeds compared in the express and free lanes. I-77 Mobility Partners responded with information from traffic-data consultant INRIX:

Speeds in the free lanes stand at 69 mph from Mooresville Exit 36 to Cornelius Exit 28; 67 mph from Exit 28 to Exit 19 in Charlotte; and 70 mph from Exit 19 to I-277 in uptown, according to the data supplied to the CRTPO board.

Before the express lanes, the average weekday speed in the corridor was 61 mph — 54 mph during rush hours, according to the INRIX data.

Average speeds in the express lanes are 72 mph between exits 36 and 28; 74 mph between exits 28 and 19; and 75 mph from Exit 19 to I-277, the data shows.

Posted speed limits are 70 mph in the express lanes and 65 mph in the general purpose lanes.

An average 300,000 “distinct” drivers use the express lanes each month, and usage has “steadily increased,” I-77 Mobility Partners reported.

The first two quarters of 2023, for example, saw 20 million transactions compared with 16.35 million the same period last year — a 22% leap, company officials said.

Of all express lane users, 88% are from North Carolina, with Mecklenburg and Iredell county drivers representing 80% of the N.C. transactions, according to I-77 Mobility Partners.

Why the daily backups?

Among her nine other questions, Altman also asked about the “constant backup” on I-77 between Gilead Road exit 23 in Huntersville and Davidson exit 30.

During peak traffic times, northbound drivers may encounter congestion in the general purpose lanes because of ongoing NCDOT construction of a new Exit 23 interchange. The number of free lanes at the exit drop from three to two and express lanes go from two to one at exit 28, I-77, Mobility Partners replied.

Minimal error rate, company says

Among his eight questions, CRTPO board member Rob Kidwell, a Huntersville town commissioner, wanted to know how many complaints I-77 Mobility Partners received about “improper tolling” of drivers.

Over four years, the company sent 113.3 million transactions from the express lanes to the N.C. Turnpike Authority, company officials replied.

In reply to another question from Kidwell, company officials said they’ve settled “only a few claims (from drivers) for damage caused by debris,” totaling roughly $4,200.

“In contrast, I-77 Mobility Partners spends millions of dollars each year repairing and replacing NCDOT-owned assets that were damaged by drivers along the I-77 Express corridor, such as guardrails, signs, delineators, attenuators, etc.”

Mum about financial

I-77 Mobility Partners declined to say how tolls lanes are doing financially when Kidwell asked.

The company’s contract requires it to provide financial data to the state, company officials said.

The company, however, regards the information “as Trade Secret under North Carolina law and does not publicly release it,” officials said.

Releasing the information would give vendors and competitors “an unfair advantage in any future negotiations,” I-77 Mobility Partners said.