July 15. [UPDATE 1:45 pm] Opposition to the I-77 toll plan continues to gain speed. Major voices in the motorsports community are speaking out against the $650 million plan to widen I-77 with a public private partnership. As reported in BusinessToday’s July print edition, Humpy Wheeler opposes the current plan. Another major voice in the motorsports […]
June 29. Lake Norman-area business leaders, ranging from bankers and racing executives to commercial real estate brokers and manufacturers, will travel by bus to the North Carolina State Capitol tomorrow to visibly join the fight against the public-private partnership that would widen I-77 with toll lanes. “I intend to call out that the NCDOT has the ability […]
June 19. Will Mayor Chuck Travis run unopposed for re-election this fall? It’s increasingly looking that way, but anything can happen in the next couple of weeks. Filing for the November elections opens July 6, and closes July 17. Cost to file: $12. Travis has hired political consultant Lawrence Shaheen of Carolina Political Consulting. He […]
“You know, I would actually love to have Jim back. I personally think his contribution to avoiding the tolls could have been similar to the impact he had on Reval. We desperately needed the famous ‘Jim touch’ at NCDOT/CRTPO in recent months/years.” —Corenlius Commissoner Dave Gilroy on former colleague Jim Bensman Former Town Commissioner Jim […]
June 12. John Aneralla, a 2012 Republican candidate for the District 41 seat now held by Jeff Tarte in the North Carolina State Senate, says he will run for mayor of Huntersville. The Republican party stalwart is a former president of the Lake Norman Kiwanis Club in Cornelius and former chairman of the Mecklenburg […]
June 10. By Dave Yochum. While it wasn’t as strong as toll opponents had hoped, the Town of Davidson has officially expressed its concerns with the NCDOT/Cintra plan to widen I-77 with toll lanes. A resolution drafted by Commissioner Jim Fuller with input from NC Sen. Jeff Tarte passed 4-0 in front of a packed house Tuesday night. […]
June 2. By Dave Vieser. The Cornelius Town Board unanimously passed a strongly worded resolution calling on the NCDOT to terminate its contract with Spanish based Cintra/I-77 Mobility Partners to build toll lanes on I-77. The board also said it would consider joining the lawsuit filed by Widen I-77 seeking to halt the toll lanes planned […]
May 29. UPDATE. You might call it a sea change—a broad transformation—that is under way at the upper levels of Cornelius power: Kurt Naas and the Widen I-77 lawsuit against the toll lanes is now on the agenda for discussion at Monday night’s Town Board meeting. Naas will have 30 minutes to outline the suit which seeks […]
May 28. By Dave Yochum. Speaking at the “Emergency Call to Action” for Lake Norman business owners, UNC-Charlotte Professor Emeritus David Hartgen said plans to widen I-77 with tolls will have dire effects on traffic both on and around 77. “Your local streets are going to be crammed full. The congestion on the feeder roads and the parallel […]
ANALYSIS. May 26. An “I-77 Business Transportation Summit” will be held at Michael Waltrip Racing at 4 pm Thursday. The hosts are power brokers in the Lake Norman business, tourism and economic scene: Larry Johns, chief financial officer of Michael Waltrip Racing in Cornelius, and Richard Zulman, CEO of BestCo, formerly BestSweet, a major employer in Mooresville.The business leaders are […]