Toll road could ease congestion
The toll road is expected to ease congestion on Highway 74 in Mecklenburg and Union counties.
MONROE, N.C. -- Union county drivers will soon have the option to pass through one of North Carolina's first tollways.
The Mecklenburg Union Metropolitan Planning Organization (MUMPO) gave the green light Wednesday to construct the bypass portion of the Monroe connector/bypass as a toll road.
The 21-mile project will run between Interstate 485 and Highway 601 in Monroe and then re-connect with U.S. 74 near Marshville.
Officials with the North Carolina Turnpike Authority said making the entire road a tollway will allow the $553 million project to be built faster and cheaper.
"The people who choose to use 74 as opposed to the toll road will have a fast ride too, because we'll take a lot of traffic off of 74 going into Charlotte," said CFO Grady Rankin.
Planners hope to finalize the Monroe connector/bypass route sometime this year. The entire project should be completed by fall 2013.