Comments from people on the email distribution:

• keep up the signs, all of them especially the fire bradford and Mccauley ones.  yes, they are negative,  that is the first place the state or national campaigns will go.  it is time that they understand what can happen to them when they do not listen and go ahead with the tillis toll road and transportation industrial complex payoff to parson’s.
• This is powerful.  I don’t know how I can interest my neighbors (who don’t have to drive on I-77) to care or to get involved.
  I’m sorry that the schools have let us down by not teaching civics for years.  We citizens don’t seem to understand that voting for an unknown entity simply because they are affiliated with a certain political party is not enough.  We must find out everything we can about those whom we vote into office.  We must encourage our neighbors to care about the welfare and quality of life of their own children by being smart voters. 
  We don’t have to bow down to someone who is in an important position because we the taxpayers voted them into office.  Politicians are public servants and yet we behave as if we are the minions and they are the royalty. 
  The truth is, that we, the people are the United States of America and the politicians whom we employ are supposed to do the people’s will and to work for the welfare of all.
  Too many people become politicians primarily because it’s a means of becoming wealthy.
  We must remember that American citizens are the USA which used to be feared, respected, the land of the free, and the home of the brave.  Many Americans seem to be unaware of how disappointed many countries are in the behavior of us as voters and of too many of the politicians we elect.  Too many elected politicians have become high-minded.  They separate themselves from the voters and from the behavior many of us expect of those we choose to run our country.
  How dare American politicians talk down to the very people who voted them in? 
  How can we the people be thoughtless enough to continue voting into office politicians who have proven that they do not support the written values of our country nor do they respect the very people who voted them into office? 
  Is the name of the political party more important than the beliefs, the intelligence, the motives, and the morals of the individual candidates?
  I don’t have to travel on I-77 but I believe in helping when and how I am able.  Although I’m an octogenarian who is not rich, and I live in a community which doesn’t allow signs on the lawns, in two weeks I hope to be able to walk with signs or write letters, or whatever, to try to stop this toll-imposition-madness against the People.

Comments from Online Petition Signers

Of the 500 Online Signers, over 100 provided comments.  We will protect the privacy and not publish the names – people can do that in the remarks if they wish – but this is what people submitted:

• The goal of transportation policy should be to move the most number of people in the most efficient and cost effective manner possible.  HOT lanes do not improve congestion and end up costing citizens more.  They are a failed experiment in other states and do not need to come to NC!   While I live in SC, my business is in NC.  This does affect me!
• We are already over taxed in NC.
• We must keep NC highways toll free.
• OUR tax dollars need to be prioritized properly.  Infrastructure should be at the very top of the list when it comes to spending OUR money. The HOV lanes are barely used as it is. Open up the HOV lanes to general purpose traffic and just add to them with the $100 million the state has in excess.
• The gasoline tax should be used for the roads and not spent on projects outside DOT.
• I do not want to have to pay more of my disposable income to pay atoll (tax) to get up and down I-77 in a timely manner.
• I travel the interstate 5+ days a week. I spend enough in gas as it is on a small income–I’m a student working part-time. I can’t afford tolls too.
• The citizens of North Mecklenburg can’t stand another TAX!! We just got screwed by the assessor’s office and that will take years to settle to get a small amount back.  This raises the cost of living and lowers our quality of life.  Step in and stop all the madness.
• HOT lanes make congestion worse and hurt our community
• Spend gas tax on roads NOT rail!!
• Infrastructure builds the economy. Tolls will hurt the economy in the regions where they are employed.
• Why is it the Raleigh had all of their roads paid for, and we here in Charlotte have to pay for them?  We deserve the same treatment.  Stop the City of Charlotte from wasting money on green-ways and bike lanes.  These lanes do not move people to and from work and neither do trolley tracks along South Blvd.   We tax payers in this state have Business Developers from the state wasting our money on lunches and entertaining.
• 50 years is a long time.
• The HOT lanes will not have a substantial impact on reducing congestion in the General Purpose Lanes.  As the population in this region grows in the future, we will be stuck with 2 general purpose lanes from mile marker 22 to mile marker 36, and trucks will be prohibited from the toll lanes, which exacerbates the general purpose lane congestion.
• I have seen it ruin Atlanta traffic.
• It is the main north/south road connecting the towns of Mooresville, Cornelius and Huntersville. Most local residents stay off I 77 South after 3 PM due to congestion, negatively impacting all the local businesses off exits 33, 31, 30, 28, 25 and 23, let alone exit 18 in Charlotte. Toll roads are BAD FOR BUSINESS.
• The current plan is fundamentally wrong and displays a complete lack of thought towards the needs of the people along I-77 where widening is most needed. Commuters need general purpose lanes to ease our daily travel not ask us to pay out of our pockets and reduce our disposable income more thereby negatively impacting our local businesses. Do what is right.
• Because socially engineering a necessary commuter route with manipulative tolling is outrageous to begin with…and the fact that this toll will not solve the congestion and the need for general purpose lanes.  Great amounts (24%) of our gasoline taxes and driving fees have been diverted from our highway funds for many years into “other” projects, such as green-ways, mass transit, and bike paths / lanes.  Now for the state of NC to say they don’t have the money to widen this road is absurd and insulting.
• I have an 18 mile commute each way. From Ext 31 down to WT Harris and back. This short trip takes me 1 hour each way!!!  Max speed along that trip 15-35 MPH! Posted Speed 65… Toll is not the solution. $20 each way … Really who can afford that on a daily basis! Less money to spend at local stores if I’m spending it on Tolls. Go to Raleigh and you have a 6 lane highway…Charlotte all you get is TWO!
• I don’t believe that toll lanes are the answer to the traffic problems on I-77.  The entire Lake Norman region along the I-77 corridor has been  experiencing tremendous growth.  Two new exits and on-ramps off and on I-77 between Davidson and Mooresville are being built as I write this.  The infrastructure is lagging behind the growth that will continue to build over the next decade.  Widening I-77 with normal transit lanes is long overdue and I for one will leave the LKN area and spend my money elsewhere if toll lanes become a reality.
• The proposal makes no sense at all from a business or a governmental standpoint.
• My taxes have already paid for the existing I-77 and now I am asked to pay AGAIN to use it??? I am especially opposed if the toll is administered by a for profit company. Profit from the NCDOT double dip taxation ???
• Toll roads just do not fix the problem. They cost tax payers more money to use a road that has become a main highway in this region.
• Government wastes too much money as it is!!!  Be more efficient in budgets and you do not have to tax people with a Toll to drive on a Highway.
• I feel like this whole proposal is being shoved down our throats and it’s ludicrous for our tax dollars to pay for this.  I drive from Mooresville to Huntersville and back every day so I see/sit in the traffic every day.  No one I know will pay to do that-we can’t afford it!  Also, I never have more than two people in my car.  General purpose lanes are the best way to alleviate the congestion since no one is going to use the toll lanes thereby causing more congestion in the general purpose lanes!
• It is clear that establishing toll lanes does NOTHING to improve congestion.
• We need no new taxes!
• Congestion on I/77, state constructed  I/77 from I/85 to 485 with tax payers dollars should not be toll
• NC needs to set priorities with the total state in mind.  Many roads in the state have been widened that don’t come close to the daily traffic seen on this stretch of Interstate 77.  Our tax dollars went to widen those roads; now it’s time to spend NC tax dollars to widen I77 and no tolls!
• It has been stated publicly that these HOT lanes will not relieve congestion, but are a means of managing demand. Motorists in ATL hate their own HOT lanes and urge NC to stop them while we can. Our historic Republican majority in state government will be remembered by generations for this awful legacy. We drive up and down 77 all day, as do our business partners. Costs of doing business will increase. But, the crux of the issue is that the people of NC don’t want them and we should not have them forced on us against our will. That is NOT conservative or Republican, but it is also not American. This is not a partisan issue, but it will be remembered as a Republican agenda. There are alternatives. Please find another way.
• We don’t need new taxes
• We look like fools to other people passing through this area, 77 is way outdated, not only in North Carolina but in West Virginia and South Carolina, I will not use the toll lane and I don’t think a lot of the other people living around the area will either, why should we, we pay more than our fair share now, we have one of the highest fuel taxes in the nation, use it.
• The construction and maintenance of roadways is and should be a primary State responsibility and as such, a high priority. The cost should not be pushed back to the citizens while NC continues to spend in an irresponsible manner, not addressing some of the State’s basic responsibilities.
• 50 year contract for any project is crazy.
• I thought the idea of electing Republicans was to help the citizens of NC keep more money in their pockets..not just take more..keep toll roads OUT of NC.
• Highways in NC are built with taxpayer dollars.  All roadways and lanes should be open to travel by all motorists.
• This has already been tried and failed in other states!
• Toll roads are just another tax. We are Taxed Enough already and it is driving business and jobs away and under. Toll roads create dangerous situations where people cannot easily exit to avoid life threatening situations. Toll roads bring bigger government that we can no longer afford.
• I live in Cornelius and I was born and remain in Mecklenburg County for 50 + years. I know how the shenanigans play out with these ‘projects’. The plan does not make sense for various reasons as being brought forth and then some! NO TOLLS for this project. NO EXCUSES. Thanks for hearing the public!
• Keep NC a state to visit w/o harassing tolls. We depend on tourism for a large part of income.  Tolls are very irritating when traveling.
• Do not want to pay toll fees and do not believe the cost of having them pays for itself.
• I drive on I77 quite a bit, and its unfair just to tax this area without taxing other areas. Its already very congested with heavy traffic.
• IT WILL ONLY MAKE TRAFFIC WORSE
• HOT lanes will impede business and annoy our visitors. Why are we even talking about this now? We are supposed to be growing our economic climate, not strangling it with even more burdens and regulations. Why is this being forced on us when NC motorists have already paid for road improvements with the highest gas tax in the SE, and NC residents don’t want it? We need a #TollFreeNC to welcome visitors and businesses alike.
• Toll roads do not help relieve the congestion on any road. Its a tax for the 1%ers that will use the lane. We pay for roads with taxes now. If the taxes were used for what they were intended for, tolls would not be needed at all!
• The problems that this will cause far out weigh any financial gain.
• I commute daily from Huntersville to uptown Charlotte and am constantly caught up in traffic between Harris Blvd and Huntersville causing massive delays that are only getting worse with additional growth and the completion of the 485 section between I85 and I77
• This affects travel everywhere I go
• The people have paid already. We shouldn’t be charged to ride on our roads that we built and already paid for
• Need to explain where the gas tax goes and then look at how the other states are doing it as their tax is not as high. Plus I live here , if you do the toll road then stop the gas tax, sooner or later we will not be able to live and eat in this great state
• I work in Charlotte, and use 1-77, I am constantly traveling 1-77 to just do my job back and forth because it’s the closest route. I need to let you know that this is one of the most irresponsible things any elected official could do. These people that come up with this ignorance should be kicked out of office, we need smart people in office not stupid. To even consider making it harder on people that use this route on a regular basis who live and work and USE 1-77,  is in a workers  language, Stupid!  When traffic gets backed up as it is during rush hour, and gas prices are what they are and this is what these people come up with? They need to be run out of office! We don’t need stupid people making decisions for us.  Please do what you can to stop this insane thing from happening.
• If we get toll roads let them be placed in Eastern NC on some of the already existing under used highways built by our tax money and the Democrats. It is time that we get some benefit of the High NC taxes we pay.  The seldom used HOV lanes on I77 should be immediately eliminated and opened to all traffic with another lane added all the way to Statesville.
• Will kill business along I-77 N., no easy on & off from toll lanes
• I lived in south Florida for 12 years I have experience in tolls and I don’t want that in N.C.
• I use the area for recreational purposes (Lake Norman). Interstate 85 is currently being widened without the use of toll roads, and I77 should be no different… The area that I77 supports is just as important. To hold the highway expansion ransom for toll roads is taxation without representation.
• Moved here from NY/NJ 22 years ago to get away from toll roads!  Toll lanes in particular don’t work; not widely used and too easy to “cheat.”  The state needs to solve existing problems rather than creating new ones!
• Toll roads are taxes not approved by the tax payer. They do nothing to improve safety or relieve traffic congestion.
• We have taxes- We don’t need tolls if our State manages properly
• I77 North of Charlotte is already a traffic nightmare, due to DOT design and inefficiency. A toll road would make it a lot worst.   We are one of the highest tax states in US and have the worst roads, particularly in Charlotte area.  We need to get rid of DOT and privatize the planning and development of roads, rather than putting in toll roads due to their inefficiency.
• We have made no improvements on I77 in forty years. There cannot be another road in the state that carries more traffic on two lanes than this road. It is time for the state to treat us fairly about roads.
• A toll would only create congestion. And a 50 year contract will inhibit and stifle growth. We should be concentrating on a viable mass transit, light rail etc to alleviate carbon emissions.
• Lived in NJ with toll roads resulting in a variety of political issues and questionable effects on helping traffic flow. The risk of toll lanes not having a a positive effect on traffic flow and not being able to correct the situation for 50 years is unreasonable.
• Do not sell out the taxpayers by making I77 toll lanes hostage to private investors for the next 50 years.  Toll roads do not work for taxpayers, do not do this.  Save money and simply widen I77 now.
• The Charlotte area needs transportation funds that equal those spent in the Eastern part of NC and in the Raleigh area
• It has been 40 years since any improvements to I-77 and this road is in desperate need of the states attention with immediate resolution. It has not worked for I-95 so it will not work for I-77. I believe WidenI77.org has a spot on when it says “Widening I-77 with general-purpose lanes will save the taxpayer millions, save our children and grandchildren from a burdensome contract, and provide the infrastructure we need”. Start by removing the seldom used HOV lanes because they are grossly underutilized.
• Toll roads eat income; waste gas and time; never run a profit for road building
• I practically live on I-77, more general use lanes are whats needed, not another cash cow for government. We are taxed enough already!
• We already pay property taxes, state and federal income taxes, sales taxes, gas taxes, annual registration, and driver licensing fees. Governments need to first figure out a way to better allocate the revenue they’re already taking in. What road projects are currently more important than this one? This is merely a lazy solution that only complicates the problem with more stakeholders, inflated contracts, and costly analysis paralysis. People should not have to pay an additional “tax” to drive to and from work in a timely manner to collect paychecks that aren’t growing at the same pace of inflation. Wake up! We’re all being taken for a ride.
• I believe that it is a detriment to the quality of life and will have a negative impact on the economic development potential of the north Charlotte MSA as well as a boondoggle that will do nothing to solve the problem.  Why after watching every road in the state get built for the last 20 years as our traffic worsen, is this the only solution?
• I’ve lived in Chicago and the tolls are expensive and actually increased congestion.
• I travel between Charlotte and Mooresville several times a week.  The HOV lanes in Charlotte are rarely used.  General purpose lanes are better.
• I do not feel toll roads are the answer.  Taking a look at what is actually causing the traffic backups, the “root” cause and fixing that is the answer not putting a useless not thought out patch on the problem.  Better planning would be the first course of action that should be taken.  There are plenty of examples of poor planning on I-77.
• For the benefit of the community and fairness for the people.  It is a waist of government money that will have no benefit to the traffic in the Mecklenberg-Iredell community.  It will only continue to increase the number of accidents and deaths because of the poorly designed entrance/exit ramps and the lack of merging area.  It will cause a drastic decrease in the growth of the community, because small businesses can not afford to compensate employees enough to pay for the tolls, that is why they are growing outside of the Char-Meck area, this will cause more to move to SC instead.  Traffic can be virtually eliminated for $20-40M instead of the proposed $500M, by lengthening the exits of 23, 25, 28 and 30, then adding a 3rd lane from exits 25-23 (total of less than 8 miles), and the next stage would be adding an exit at mile-marker 21-Hambright Road and/or mile-marker 24-Stumptown Rd. And the most important thing to do is to synchronize the timing of the lights for each of the crossroads so that the traffic on those don’t cause the traffic on I-77. Those plans are what will finally give a positive ROI.
• I have lived in states with toll roads. Those roads are usually congested and in poor repair. What always happens is we end up paying  tolls and higher taxes as well !
• $20-$40M for a solution that will definitely help vs. $500M for one that won’t.  I’ve lived in states that have these.  BAD IDEA!
• We have paid highway taxes. and its gone into the general fund along with the NC Educational Lottery funds.  And who needs the money today?  Our roads and school systems all over the state.  And now someone wants to support a company for 50 years to do what should have been done the last umteen years?
• Not the solution.  DC area just did this and they have worse traffic and a lot of people with money.  Not getting used. Here is what I have recently read about the situation in Virginia
• Tolls will not help traffic congestion.  Hwy 115 and 21 can’t handle any more traffic.
• Please use Federal or state taxes to widen this interstate. That’s why we pay taxes, is it not?
• HOT lanes will only make the congestion worse. Widen I-77 using tax dollars or don’t bother.
• I have been in and around the Lake Norman area since 2006. Traffic has been absolutely horrible on I-77 since then, and I’m sure it was terrible before. I recently purchased a house in Huntersville, NC and commute to Mooresville for work. My commute is impacted by the traffic on a daily basis. I-77 should have been widened years ago but has seen little to no improvements. I will continue to use GP lanes if toll lanes are the option and I am positive I am not alone. I will not pay to drive on an interstate that should already be funded through the numerous taxes that I already pay. Adding a toll lane is “highway robbery”.
• Do not want toll lanes on I-77 between Charlotte and Mooresville.
• We don’t need to be throwing away hard earned taxpayer money  on a toll lane especially when a much cheaper and just as good solution already exists (adding regular lanes to I-77 at a fraction of the toll lane cost)
• Speaker Tillis held a town hall meeting in Cornelius a few years ago. In that meeting he pointed out the unfair formula used to divide funds for highway projects. Being from this area you are well aware of the issue.  I trust that you will do the right thing and make sure that the tax dollars that we’ve given to other counties over the years finally get put to use right here at home.
• Because I live off of Exit 28 in Cornelius and I think it’s ridiculous that we have to pay for a toll lane and no one else in the city does? Expansion of 485/ 85- Why 77 North ? Is there some underlying idea that we should pay more than the rest of the Charlotte citizens? Absolutely ridiculous! We pay one of highest car taxes in the US but we still need to pay more for the highway.. Figure this out and be fair!
• Toll lanes are a very bad idea, and if implemented, we as a community will be paying for this mistake for years to come.
• I have family land in Cornelius, NC and toll roads will directly affect my family & possibly the real estate value.
• The state takes enough of my money, thanks but no thanks.  I’m from PA, and toll roads there are a nightmare.
• Toll lanes only benefit a few people.
• I do not support toll lanes in North Carolina. WIDEN I-77 to relieve congestion.
• Spending $170M in taxpayer dollars to set up toll lanes with a 50 year commitment rather than spending $130M for general purpose lanes sure seems like an illogical choice.
• I think we have paid for I77 once and asking us to pay again is ridiculous.  It should be widened without consideration of a Toll Rd.
• I drive this road everyday and it needs attention. Toll lanes are not economically equal to all citizens. Those who would have a difficult time paying the extra fees are stuck in traffic. I am not liberal minded but this seems to benefit those who can pay tolls more than those that can’t. All taxpayers should have equal access to road usage regardless of economic status.
• Toll lanes are not the answer.  Adding general use lanes and lengthening the on ramps would be  much more effective.
• I believe Commissioner David Gilroy’s assessment.
• This is ridiculous and it will not solve the problem
• I-77 absolutely needs to be widened but it needs to be done with General Purpose lanes.  It is absurd that I-77 has not been widened since it was built 40 years ago, in spite of the tremendous growth (and tax payer revenue) that has come from the I-77 corridor.  Also, I’m deeply disturbed that creating the toll road would restrict the county from creating alternate routes and widening other streets because it would take away from toll revenue.  The whole area needed to have streets upgraded 10-20 years ago.  And, it needs to be funded by the state not tolls!
• Single most quality of life issue facing Cornelius
• The Constitution!
• Stop public/private “partnerships”. This is crony capitalism.
• Fuel taxes being diverted to trains, walking paths and other non road transportation is Folly at it’s worst. No tolls until this diversion of the fuel taxes stop!
• I use I-77 every day. In NC we already pay the highest gasoline tax in the southeast, we already pay a high vehicle tax, and now add to that a toll on the major route of travel? What is being done with all the other sources of traffic related tax income? Allow Charlotte to be a city that isn’t a daily nightmare to commute to.
• Toll roads are 10x more costly.  General purpose lanes would help ALL, not just those who can afford to pay the addition toll
• I travel I-77 up to exit 42 from Lake Wylie SC daily…I sit in traffic each and every day and my average drive time home is about 1 1/2 hours…Traffic stops every day due to the fact that all the on-ramps have no lanes to merge and this stops traffic from exit 36 all the way down to exit 25 and some days all the way to exit 19 @ 485..This is the worse Interstate that I have ever traveled and it needs to be fixed..The HOV lanes are no good now !
• The city/county are attempting to charge extra with toll lanes for a transportation service which I am already paying for with my tax dollars.
• I travel from Mooresville to Charlotte each day and traffic is atrocious. This HOT lane will not help. Gov’t is supposed to provide basic infrastructure. They have failed miserably.
• Everyone needs this, not just the rich.
• Congestion on 77 through Cornelius Davidson and Mooresville is now horrible and will only get worse as more planned development occurs
• It’s ridiculous to have toll roads when the Strategic Mobility Formula hasn’t been pursued.
• I have a hard time believing that this will help traffic and it will just add to my expense to drive to work and back.  Traffic moves fine once you get to part that has been widened at 485 south into Charlotte.
• It WILL NOT stop at I77
• We pay too much in gas tax as it is, use that money more effectively.
• The future development of Iredell and Charlotte.  To stop being mistreated by Raleigh.  To prevent business such as Daimler/Freightliner from relocating out of NC because of their increased expenses/time of transporting material/products in area.