Costly toll-lanes project on Charlotte loop road delayed May 9, 2021 FacebookTwitterEmail CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Officials say work on a $346 million toll-lanes project on an interstate loop road around North Carolina's biggest city is running well behind schedule. State highway officials said during a recent public meeting of a North Carolina Turnpike Authority committee that the opening of those lanes on I-485, originally planned for fall of 2022, now faces a delay of up to two years, the Charlotte Observer reported “Wow!” one committee member could be heard blurting out in the meeting. The project will add an express toll lane in each direction for a stretch of the road and a general-purpose free lane along an often-bottlenecked stretch, the Observer has previously reported.