The Charlotte Observer reports, “The controversial Interstate 77 toll lanes project is on schedule to open at the end of 2018, the lead contractor told Charlotte City Council Monday night.” The report adds, “The project has been bitterly opposed in north Mecklenburg, and some have speculated that the toll lanes led to Gov. Pat McCrory trailing Democrat Roy Cooper in this month’s election by about 5,000 votes.”
Lincoln Times-News reports that Republican State Senator David Curtis contends, “If Roy Cooper does win the election, it is going to be in a great part due to tolling I-77. . . . I went to (McCrory’s) people and just basically told them that we have a major problem with tolling I-77, it’s going to cost him tens of thousands of votes and we really need to do something about it. Unfortunately, they chose not to listen to me.”