3 hours ago - News

Designers envision I-77 cap with parks on top

Alexandria Sands

An aerial city view with a raised highway curving over a mural-lined wall and green park along a canal; pedestrians and cyclists on paths; distant skyline under a cloudy sky. — Provided by Sustain Charlotte/Leilani Jones

When asked to reimagine I-77 South in Charlotte, urban designers pitch "lidding" the highway to free up high-value land around Uptown for parks, mixed-use development, and walking bridges.

Why it matters: The N.C. Department of Transportation is embarking on a controversial plan to widen the interstate with toll lanes, largely to drive economic growth. New visuals, submitted as part of a design charrette, help envision other possibilities, which supporters say offer more public benefits.

What they're saying: NCDOT has not listened to and incorporated the community's feedback enough, says Shannon Binns, CEO of Sustain Charlotte, which organized the charrette.

"We wanted to show that we have good ideas in our community, if you ask the community what they want."

Driving the news: Sustain Charlotte's workshop, "Reimagining I-77 South: A Vision for Repairing and Reconnecting Charlotte," drew participants from preschoolers to professional designers from local firms LandDesign and Neighboring Concepts. Most ideas centered on freeway caps.

Reality check: It's unlikely NCDOT will scrap its toll lanes and pursue a cap on the existing freeway instead. That could cost hundreds of millions, not to mention the complex planning. And NCDOT has already rejected the idea of putting the toll lanes underground due to the price.

The agency says the $600 million it's committed to the new I-77 lanes must be used for that project legally. It couldn't transfer funds to, say, public transit.
NCDOT also claims the extra lanes are crucial for safety. I-77 South's crash rate is 2.8 times higher than the statewide average for urban interstates, according to NCDOT.

Yes, but: Some research suggests that road widening does not reduce congestion in the long-term, a phenomenon known as "induced demand."

NCDOT is taking feedback at a community engagement center at 1023 W. Morehead St. and says it's open to incorporating bikes and walking connections and other ideas as part of the widening.

Zoom out: Though it'd likely take forceful political will, freeway caps with green spaces above are in the realm of possibility.

Dallas, for example, opened the popular 5.4-acre Klyde Warren Park over Woodall Rodgers Freeway in 2012. It cost about $112 million through a public-private partnership.
Following that success, the community advocated for a second park deck, Halperin Park. A Dallas foundation raised over $200 million in private and public funds for the 5-acre bridge. It opens this May.

Take a look at the I-77 designs below.