HOT Lanes on I-77 More Questions Than Answers Feb 22, 2013

The Problem Congested stretch of four lane road from exit 23 to exit 36

The Latest GP Lane Estimate Four lanes from ; two from : ~$75M Source: “I-77 HOT Discussion with Cornelius Town Board”, from Bill Coxe to Andrew Grant, Oct. 10, 2012 A ballpark cost for two GP lanes from exit 23 to exit 36: $80- $130M

The Current HOT Lane Proposal Source: “I-77 HOT Lanes Project Overview NCSITE Lunch N’ Learn”, August 21, 2012; “I-77 Widening Update”, MUMPO (Bill Coxe), Sept 19, 2012; “Billions invested in Roads”, Charlotte Observer, Jan 14, Miles of HOT Lanes Cost: $550 Million

GP vs HOT HOTGP 27.5 Miles $550M 13 Miles $ M (est)

Cost Breakdown -$M Source: “Billions invested in Roads”, Charlotte Observer, Jan 14, 2013

HOT Lane Funding- Public* Source: NCDOT *Maximum contribution of public funds

Mobility Funding Source: “Mobility Fund Project Scoring,” NCDOT, 2012 I-77 GP Lanes- 20pts less, but still ~#4 out of 95 projects (top 5%) I-77 GP Lanes Still A Good Candidate for Mobility Funds

HOT Lane Funding- Federal Source: NCDOT Looking at the largest bucket of money…

From the NCDOT- Part I  Q: Do GP lanes qualify for NHPP funding?  A:“Building general purpose lanes on I-77 would be an eligible expenditure of NHPP funds.” Source: NCDOT

From the NCDOT- Part II  Q: “Is there some advantage to obtaining funding for HOT lanes vs GP lanes under NHPP?”  A:”There are many factors that would be included in an analysis to determine whether it is better to build general purpose lanes or HOT lanes. The type of funding (funding source) would not be one of them.” Source: NCDOT

From the NCDOT- Part III  Q: “Does Federal funding (NHPP) receive a higher priority due to HOT lanes?”  A:”Each state is appropriated a specific amount of NHPP funding....we are going to get the same amount of NHPP from the feds funding regardless of what projects we build. The feds play no part in the selection process for projects that use NHPP funding.” Source: NCDOT So Federal Funds are NOT tied to HOT lanes!

A Recent $1B Road… Triangle Expressway First toll road in NC Connects Durham to Holly Springs Initial traffic project: 20K VPD Actual traffic: 6K VPD Source: Hartgen & Associates

HOT Lanes and Congestion  HOT lanes rely on congestion  “Congestion Pricing” means more congestion = more toll revenue

HOT Lanes & Congestion- County HOT lanes are expected to have “minimal impact to the travel speed in the existing general purpose lanes.” Source: “Comments on Environmental Documents for TIP Projects I C and I-4750 HOT”, MUMPO memo dated October 4, 2012

HOT Lanes & Congestion- State Source: “Managed Lanes: More than a Revenue Tool”, Parsons Brinkerhoff, 2013 For the long term, “congestion returns only to the general purpose lanes.”

HOT Lanes and Congestion - Federal “No one wants congestion in the GP lanes. So the express lane provides an option, not a full solution. Indeed, if congestion in the GP lanes ever dissolves, than (sic) the incentive to use an express lane would dissolve too.” Source: FHWA, Feb 4, 2013 HOT Lanes Do Not Relieve Congestion- They Ensure It

HOT Lanes & the Future  Unplanned Revenue Impacting Facility  Compensation Event  Physical Constraint Source: “I-77 HOT Lane Project Discussion with Cornelius Town Board”, from Bill Coxe to Andrew Grant, October 15, 2012 HOT Lanes on I-77 for 50 years…

Some Existing HOT Lanes CA 91 ORANGE COUNTY I 15 SAN DIEGO I85 ATLANTA US 290 HOUSTON

I-77 HOT Lanes Mooresville Davidson Cornelius Huntersville Combined Population: ~150,000 Source: US Census Bureau, 2010

Economic Burden Approx Population Supporting One Mile of HOT Lane People (Thousands) LKN Citizens Bear >15x the Burden of Other HOT Lanes Source: “A Guide for HOT Lane Development,” FHA, 2003

HOT Lane Revenues Source: “Managed Lanes: More than a Revenue Tool”, Parsons Brinkerhoff, 2013 Estimated Required Revenue for I-77 HOT Lanes: $25-30M I-15 UT (Similar Population to CLT): $600K Large gap between required revenues and revenues from population

SC vs NC: Tax Comparison Source: NC Fast Facts 2013, John Locke Foundation; tax-rates.org; sctax.org; taxfoundation.org Stepping Up to the Plate with Two Strikes Against Us…

LKN vs Rock Hill (York County) 93 miles of highway improvements 87 miles of County gravel roads upgraded and paved 16 bridges repaired, replaced or widened 84 major intersections improved “What Do You Need?”“There’s No Money!” York- Since 1997 LKN Source: “Pennies for Progress” website, Phase I and Phase II

6 Lanes 8 Lanes HOT Lane 6 Lanes Location 8 Lanes 6 Lanes

From a business perspective, HOT lanes…  Are a red flag the road is congested  Indicates the state/municipality is unwilling or unable to invest in infrastructure  Siphons discretionary income out of the local economy

HOT Lanes on I-77: 1.Cost much more than GP lanes 2.Ensure congestion instead of relieving it 3.Eliminates or at least limits our ability to make future I-77 improvements 4.Locks us into an agreement with a private company for 50 years 5.Will negatively impact our economy

I-77 HOT Lanes An Expensive, Non-Solution That Limits Future I-77 Improvements and Negatively Impacts Our Economy Wideni77.org