North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein warned against the use of “threats” when asked about the ongoing fight over adding toll lanes to Interstate 77 South during an appearance in Charlotte on Wednesday.
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The Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization voted in May to rescind support for adding toll lanes to an 11-mile stretch of I-77 from uptown to the South Carolina state line. That vote followed after months of anger in the community over the impact of the new lanes on neighborhoods and the environment.
But a proposal in the state legislature to make local governments who voted in favor of rescinding support pay back about $60 million already spent on the project began to circulate late last week. The proposal from Republican state Sen. Vickie Sawyer also says the state wouldn’t start new transportation projects and would withhold money for road maintenance until the $60 million is paid back.
Stein, speaking to reporters Wednesday at Bank of America Stadium after an awards ceremony, called I-77 “one of the most crowded urban highways” and said “the need is clearly there for some fix.”
“I trust the people of Charlotte to come up with a fix that makes sense for them,” the Democratic governor said.
Stein said he’d like to see the parties involved “talk together around a table.”
“Threats are very rarely an effective way to get to a desired outcome,” he said. “And so I just hope that we can work together constructively to address this issue in a way that makes sense, that makes sure that travel is safe and at the same time that the neighborhoods are protected.”
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Asked about Mecklenburg County Commission Vice Chair Leigh Altman’s recent comment that Stein should “make clear” transportation money won’t be withheld for other projects, the governor said “there are a lot of technicalities in the way the transportation dollars are issued.”
“I want there to be rational, smart investments in infrastructure for transportation here in Mecklenburg County … I’m just hopeful that the broader community in Charlotte can come together around a plan that makes sense,” Stein said.
Sawyer’s amendment wasn’t added to a transportation bill moving through the legislature during a Wednesday Senate Transportation Committee meeting. But her proposal could still be added to the state budget.
The CRTPO is scheduled to talk about the I-77 toll lanes again Wednesday night, hours after the town of Monroe decided to reverse its vote on revoking the funding agreement for the toll lanes.
This story was originally published June 17, 2026 at 4:08 PM with the headline “NC Gov. Josh Stein warns against use of ‘threats’ in I-77 toll lanes fight.”
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