Issue Position: Roads

Issue Position

Healthy communities need good roads. That requires smart growth ensuring the safe and efficient transport of goods, services, and people. Not toll roads.

As our state continues to grow, our transportation challenges will only continue to mount. We must work together as a state to make our Department of Transportation more efficient and to ensure that we are fairly and accurately setting the transportation priorities in a way that balances the needs of the rural, suburban and urban areas of our state.
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We must reform the way our Regional Transportation Planning Organizations are structured and governed. Currently, many of them are dominated by the largest municipality in the region. For example, on the Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization the City of Charlotte's one representative's vote is worth 46% giving the City of Charlotte nearly total control over setting transportation priorities for that region. It's no wonder the transportation needs of Iredell and Yadkin Counties are so often neglected by our state.
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I-77 is a nightmare and adding toll lanes will do nothing to solve it. I believe we should complete the construction of the lanes, delete the contract and open the lanes as free lanes. This is the only way we will see any relief, and I support the efforts of business and community leaders as well as current legislators from throughout the Lake Norman region who are pushing for "complete and delete." I look forward to being a leader in that fight in Raleigh.

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