MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C. — The heavily wooded area between the Catawba River and Interstate 485 in west Charlotte will be even bigger than Ballantyne one day, making it one of the largest developments in the city's history.
Gaston County is pushing for the creation of a state road that would link them to the new River District and Charlotte.
While North Carolina Department of Transportation officials could ask the developer to pay for side streets, Channel 9 learned taxpayers are still on the hook for the major new road.
The road project, called Catawba Crossings, would run from Highway 279 in Gaston County to Highway 160 near Charlotte Douglas Airport.
"The estimates that have been provided are indicating that it's $199 million," said Robert Cook with the Charlotte Regional Transportation Planning Organization.
Cook said taxpayers will foot the enormous bill because the state doesn't ask developers to help with projects of this magnitude.
Commissioner Jim Puckett is frustrated because his voters along the I-77 corridor in north Mecklenburg County never had money like this to fund their own major road projects.
"When you look at I-77 in north Mecklenburg as a toll road, because there weren't enough funds available, this really is salt in the wound," Puckett said.
It's still early in the process, but if approved, taxpayers in Charlotte and the surrounding 26 counties will split the hefty bill for the two new bridges and the road.
The CRTPO said the $199 million cost is just a drop in the bucket because the state will have billions of tax dollars on hand.
That doesn't go over well with drivers watching the toll construction on I-77.
"Now we have money to build roads that would essentially help some other county when we didn't have money for our own. That's what drives a lot of this," Puckett said.
Commissioners and council members at CRTPO's meeting on Thursday night will decide if Catawba Crossings will be classified as a state highway.
Gaston County is pushing for that classification because it could allow construction to start sooner.
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