I-77 Near Lake Norman Ranks 31st Among Nation’s Worst Truck Bottlenecks

A stretch of Interstate 77 in Huntersville near Lake Norman has been ranked the 31st worst truck bottleneck in the United States. The American Transportation Research Institute released its annual "Top 100 Truck Bottlenecks" list this week. Three Charlotte-area highways made the list.

According to the Charlotte Observer, the Lake Norman section of I-77 averaged a peak commuter hour speed of 26.9 mph, according to the study. Interstate 85 at I-485 (West) ranked 43rd with speeds of 38 mph. I-77 at I-485 (South) came in 44th with 40.7 mph.

Peak commuting speeds got worse from 2024-25 to 2025-26 on all three Charlotte-area highways. The Lake Norman stretch slowed by 5.6%. I-85 at I-485 dropped 8%, and I-77 at I-485 declined 3.1%.

The institute was founded in 1954 and has offices in Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Minneapolis, and Sacramento, California. This not-for-profit organization collects and analyzes truck GPS data. Why? To help Congress and other road-funding decision-makers understand how congestion affects mobility on the U.S. highway transportation system.

Two South Carolina highway stretches also made the list. I-85 at Interstate 385 in Greenville ranked 36th. Interstate 26 at Interstate 526 in Charleston came in 86th.

Atlanta had three highways that ranked worse than any in the Charlotte area. Those routes placed third, fifth, and sixth on the list.

Interstate 294 at Interstate 290/Interstate 88 in Chicago topped the list as the worst truck bottleneck in the nation. Interstate 95 in Fort Lee, New Jersey, ranked second.

The study measures truck bottlenecks but includes congestion that affects all drivers. Car drivers experience the same delays as commercial trucks at these locations.