HOT Lanes on I-77 How did we get here and what do we do? October 30, 2014

The Problem Congested stretch of four lane road from mm21 to exit 36… with “no money” to widen it

A Solution Add a general purpose lane in both directions 13 miles $ M (est) Source: “I-77 Feasibility Study,” December 7, 2009

The Current Plan Privately Operated Toll Lanes 27.5 Miles $655 M 50 year contract Cintra, a Spanish company Source: NCDOT Press Release, April 11, 2014

Taxpayer Contribution  Taxpayer Up-front Payment$88M For private tolling lanes  Taxpayer Subsidy$75M To cover potential revenue shortfalls  Taxpayer Liability$215M Government-backed bonds  26.5 miles of public right-of-way Leased exclusively at no cost to private company for 50 years Source: I-77 JLTCO Report, , WI77 analysis

Example: Toll Lane Flyover Source: NCDOT

The Cost Of Toll Lanes Source: I-77 JLTCO Report, , WI77 analysis A bloated non-solution that siphons millions from our economy for generations

How Did We Get Here?  State Level  Regional Level  Local Level

How Did We Get Here? “We have $70 billion in identified and ranked transportation projects with only $11 billion to pay the bill.”

Some NC Transportation “Needs”  $6.4 Billion for toll roads 9 out of 10 most expensive projects are tolled $4.6 billion “cost to NCDOT”  $717 million for new 4-lane From Lenoir (pop 19,000) to Tarleton (pop 11,000)  $306 million to widen NC-33 From Grimesland (pop 400) to Aurora (pop 500)  $600 Million for Urban Loops Wilkesboro, Red Springs, Lillington et al Source: NCDOT Priority 3.0 Final Scores With these “needs”, no wonder NCGA really wants to build tolls…

North Carolina’s First Toll Road Revenues: $24M Operating Exp: $21M Debt Service: ~$50M $47M Annual Shortfall Source: NCTA Annual Report, WI77 analysis Triangle Expressway Financial Results Who pays the difference?

How Did We Get Here?  State Level  Supports tolling  Regional Level  Local Level

How Did We Get Here: Part 2  $158 Million bonus for building tolls (HB-817)  Allocated by CRTPO (formerly MUMPO) Initially ranked widening I-77 w/ general lanes as #92 Voted unanimously for toll lanes

Bonus Allocation Source: Transportation Funding Update, Huntersville Town Board, Oct 20, 2014

Bonus Allocation Source: Ibid. Bonus money ensures regional support for tolls…

How Did We Get Here?  State Level  Supports tolling  Regional Level  Supports tolling  Local Level

Local Efforts  June 21: A majority of LKN commisioners request Governor to delay contract signing  June 26: NCDOT:“No foundation for delay” Sign contract Local voices ignored…

How Did We Get Here?  State Level  Supports tolling  Regional Level  Supports tolling  Local Level  Ignored by NCDOT It’s up to us…

Widen I-77’s Efforts  20+ presentations  Exposure on virtually every local media outlet  National exposure Washington Times Wall Street Journal ABC News  Public engagement ~5,000 petition signatures ~1,000 cards to the governor 4,000+ FB “likes” Blog hits ~ 100K+

Widen I-77’s Efforts (Con’t)  Retained Legal Counsel Determine most viable strategies for legal action

Next Steps  File injunction*  Bring suit*  Re-rank GP project *as funding allows

About Widen I-77  A 501(c) (3) organization  Donations are tax deductible  Subject to IRS reporting and auditing It’s up to us…

Thank You WidenI77 PO Box 792 Cornelius, NC wideni77.org Your donations are tax-deductible. Fifty years of tolls aren’t.

Appendix

Typical Access Point Source: Executed Comprehensive Agreement

A New Funding Paradigm: STI  Passed last summer HB 817  Replaces Equity Formula Favored rural over urban areas  More data-driven Supposed to remove pork politicking

 I77 General Purpose Lane Project I77 scores higher than 33 funded projects Projects to be funded Projects unfunded I-77 GP project through Lake Norman 73 “Statewide” funded projects 377 Unfunded Projects Highest scoring funded project Lowest scoring funded project A General Purpose Lane Project Would Likely Be Funded…

The Bad News: STI Corridor Cap  A maximum of 10% of projected funding in the “statewide” category  A “corridor” is defined as “any contiguous projects or group of projects”  Since I-77 South (i.e. Charlotte) scores higher it would use all corridor cap money  NCDOT says corridor cap applies... we disagree, but…

The Good News…  Corridor cap only applies to STATEWIDE Category  I-77 LKN could still be funded under Regional and Division categories 60% of total fundng ~$9B dollars  I-77 general use project eligible to be ranked as early as July 2014! Six Month Wait vs 50 Years of Tolls

NCDOT STI Scores for I-77 Project How Does This Rank Against Other Statewide Projects?