Traffic
Toll resolution on deck tonight at Davidson Town Hall
June 9. Tonight’s Davidson Town Board meeting may be another litmus test in the battle to defund the $650 million plan to widen I-77 between Lake Norman and Charlotte with the help of toll lanes and a company from Spain. Town Commissioner James Fuller is expected to propose a resolution that backs NC Sen. Jeff […]
McAlpine helps put brakes on I-77 tolls
By Dave Yochum. A modest, low-key guy with the mind of a CFO and the heart of an entrepreneur brought the Lake Norman business community together at Michael Waltrip Raceworld in late May to discuss plans to widen I-77 with tolls. If John “Mac” McAlpine V seemed to be preaching to the choir, he was. In […]
Why businesses and their customers should care about tolls
OPINION: A letter from Vince Winegardner In early 2012, I had heard about plans to widen I-77 with revenue derived from tolls. I was not terribly worried about that at the time. I was like most people and thought toll roads where the 50 cent variety used to cover maintenance and subsidize the construction costs. […]
I-77 toll controversy highlights worries about clout in Raleigh
By Dave Vieser. With Pat McCrory’s election in 2012 and Republicans holding a majority in the state legislature, things seemed to be looking up for Lake Norman. With a strong GOP lineup came expectations of increased help from Raleigh for critical infrastructure needs, especially in the transportation spectrum. Two years later, town boards around Lake Norman, […]
Cornelius to NCDOT: Tear Down This Contract
June 2. By Dave Vieser. The Cornelius Town Board unanimously passed a strongly worded resolution calling on the asCDOT to terminate its contract with Spanish based Cintra/I-77 Mobility Partners to build toll lanes on I-77. The board also said it would consider joining the lawsuit filed by Widen I-77 seeking to halt the toll lanes planned for […]
Naas, Widen I-77 on Monday night Town Board agenda
You might call it a sea change—a broad transformation—that is under way at the upper levels of Cornelius power: Kurt Naas and the Widen I-77 lawsuit against the toll lanes is now on the agenda for discussion at Monday night’s Town Board meeting. Naas will have 30 minutes to outline the suit which seeks to stop the […]
Tarte, Bradford backing plan to ditch tolls
May 28. By Dave Yochum. Speaking at the “Emergency Call to Action” for Lake Norman business owners, UNC-Charlotte Professor Emeritus David Hartgen said plans to widen I-77 with tolls will have dire effects on traffic both on and around 77. “Your local streets are going to be crammed full. The congestion on the feeder roads and […]
Professor predicts tolls will hurt Mooresville
May 28. David Hartgen, a professor emeritus at UNC-Charlotte, says tolls on I-77 will likely limit development and retail growth, most likely in Mooresville and to a lesser extent, in Statesville. “In transportation ‘theory’ it would reduce/limit it, because it reduces access (by charging a toll) and increasing congestion on parallel routes. But the actual […]
‘Emergency Call to Action’ on tolls comes from business leaders, not LKN Chamber
ANALYSIS. May 26. An “I-77 Business Transportation Summit” will be held at Michael Waltrip Racing at 4 pm Thursday. The hosts are power brokers in the Lake Norman business, tourism and economic scene: Larry Johns, chief financial officer of Michael Waltrip Racing in Cornelius, and Richard Zulman, CEO of BestCo, formerly BestSweet, a major employer in Mooresville.The business leaders are stirring […]
Hastened NCDOT-Cintra deal an ‘incredible’ insult to voters, Gilroy says
May 21. Amidst the background of the Exit 28 Ridiculousness Facebook page whose profile picture is “Cintra Sucks Money Out Of The Local Economy,” more local business leaders are starting to speak out on their own, independent of any chamber of commerce. Indeed, a petition calling for an independent review of the now-signed 50-year deal […]
