Opinion: Car dependency is literally destroying Charlotte

In November of 2025, Mecklenburg County voters closed a half-decade of back-and-forth by approving a 1% sales tax increase to fund a plethora of new transit projects in the Charlotte metropolitan area and across Mecklenburg County.

And yet, four months later, the only boots on the ground will be for a new station on the already complete Blue Line in the South End neighborhood. Instead, the city has stepped aside for the North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) to barrel through on a different project: expanding the I-77 Express Lanes with a new bridge running through several historically black Uptown neighborhoods and public parks.