BRADENTON, Fla. – A bill that would unwind North Carolina's $648 million Interstate 77 project has begun making its way through the legislative review process.
House Bill 954, sponsored by Rep. Charles Jeter, R-Mecklenburg, cleared the House Transportation Committee on Wednesday. The measure now goes to the Appropriations Committee for consideration.
Jeter's bill, which has 26 co-sponsors, would cancel the state's controversial public-private partnership contract with I-77 Mobility Partners, whose main backer is Cintra Infraestructuras SA.
The project would widen I-77 in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg area, and add managed toll lanes under a 50-year operations and maintenance agreement that gives the concessionaire "relative toll-setting freedom," Fitch Ratings said in an analysis.
Jeter has said that the contract is "almost universally viewed as flawed."
Some elected officials and drivers in the region oppose the bill and prefer that the state construct free lanes. Others have said they were unaware of contract details, such as its length, until it was negotiated.
A state analysis has said that unwinding the P3 could cost $300 million or more, but HB 954 does not designate a source of funding for those costs.
State Transportation Secretary Nick Tennyson urged the committee on Wednesday not to cancel the contract and said it would create a bottleneck for I-77 traffic as future projects try to catch up with congestion that the toll road would have addressed already, according to WRAL.
Rep. Tricia Cotham, D-Matthews, has filed HB 950 which would also unwind the I-77 project, although it has yet to be heard in committee.
HB 950 would require that any damages or monetary penalties be paid from unobligated funds in the DOT's budget.
