In 2015, NCDOT signed a contract with I-77 Mobility Partners to begin construction and eventual management of the toll lanes starting in 2018. However, new criticism erupted before the financial agreement was made when local politicians discovered the contract was amended in 2014 giving I-77 Mobility Partners a 50-year non-compete clause. The clause eliminated any future widening of additional free-lanes between Charlotte Center City and Mooresville; or if any additional free-lanes were added, then NCDOT would have to pay the developer compensation. The toll lanes between Mooresville and Huntersville opened June 1, 2019, and the last sections leading into the Center City opened November 23 of that year.