CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A Charlotte highway exit, known for its stress-inducing nature, is getting unique attention from a North Carolina programmer.
Mike Ramirez is developing a video game centered on the iconic Exit 3A on Interstate 277 in Charlotte, and its need for drivers’ quick decision making skills.
To take the exit, drivers need to merge across up to three lanes of traffic, while incoming cars are trying to switch lanes to get onto the interstate.
“It’s kind of exciting, but also it can be a little scary,” Ramirez said.
“Exit 3A: The Game” draws inspiration from the frightening experiences reported by Ramirez and other Charlotte commuters.
“I started make a little prototype of it and showing it to friends,” Ramirez said. “And they were cracking up about it.”
Ramirez added the goal of the game is to make it through Exit 3A without crashing while carrying a cargo load. “You’re trying to make sure that you’re not hitting anything so that you’re not losing cargo,” Ramirez said. “The idea is you’re just continuously going through and trying to get the highest score.”
Ramirez is injecting a bit of humor about this stretch of I-277 where eight crashes happened in 2023, according to a recent NCDOT study. The study also shows six of those crashes occurred at the merge point between the off ramp and E. 12th Street.
“Obviously in my game cars are flying around in the air and that doesn’t really happen,” Ramirez said. “But, I think that’s also why people, when they look at the game they laugh because they’re like ‘yeah, Exit 3A, that is a place where you would see something like that’.”
Ramirez said early footage of his game has garnered a lot of reaction on social media with commenters sharing their own nerve-wracking experiences.
“I just wanted to make a game about something fun that I’ve experienced in my life,” Ramirez said. “But, if it does lead to something improving infrastructure, that would be cool.”
Ramirez said he hopes to release the game by the end of the year.
A spokesperson with NCDOT released the following statement about future improvements to I-277:
“To meet the needs of our growing state, NCDOT maintains a long-range transportation plan called the State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP). This plan identifies the construction funding and schedule for projects over 10 years. NCDOT updates the plan about every two years.
"The Department uses a data-driven process to update the STIP — we call this Strategic Prioritization. The current cycle to update the STIP from 2026-2035 is called Prioritization 7.0, or P7.0. This process started in the summer of 2023 when each of NCDOT’s 14 highway divisions and local planning groups across the state gathered initial public input on projects which were submitted for evaluation and scoring.
"A project to make improvements on I-277 between Kenilworth Avenue and Davidson Street was submitted, but it did not score well enough to be included in the draft STIP, which was just released last month. This means there is not a project currently funded or scheduled.
"Our local highway division will have a weeklong public comment period from March 17-21, when people can ask questions and share input on projects."
