CorneliusNews.Net - Cornelius, NC
APR 11, 2014

A partnership led by Cintra Infraestructures, a Spain-based transportation construction firm that specializes in toll lanes, is the apparent winning bidder on the N.C. Department of Transportation’s I-77 widening project north of Charlotte.

Cintra estimates it will cost $665 million to add lanes, including so-called high-occupancy toll lanes, or HOT lanes, to 26 miles of the traffic-clogged road from the Brookshire Freeway/I-277 north to Exit 36 in Mooresville. That’s higher than the $500 million to $550 million that officials previously estimated.

The NCDOT still must review Cintra’s proposal, but officials said Friday they hope to sign a contract in June, and construction could start as early as December. The project could be done in 2018, the DOT said.

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