As the Charlotte Metro continues to grow, so does traffic.

77, 85, 485, Independence Boulevard are all notorious for their backups.

Some say 277 is the absolute worst.

"Carolina Impact's" Jason Terzis joins us with details.

- Well, if you've ever driven on I-277 around Uptown Charlotte you know exactly how tricky navigating it can be, especially during rush hour.

Cars in the on-ramp trying to get over to the left with cars already on the left trying to merge the right to exit.

Basically everyone crisscrossing.

It can be and usually is quite chaotic.

A relative newcomer to Charlotte was taken aback by the never ending mess and stress of driving on 277.

So he put his software engineering skills to work, started tinkering around and created a video game about it.

(graphics whooshing) (audio warbling) (playful music) It's real-life driving transformed into a cartoon-like video game.

(audio warbling) (playful music) - It is kind of like an absurd thing, like make a video game about an exit like that.

It's kind of crazy and it made people laugh.

- [Jason] But for anyone who's had the pleasure of navigating Interstate 277 around Uptown Charlotte, it certainly resonates.

- I never really thought somebody would make a video game based on a roadway near where I lived.

- [Jason] I-277, a 4.4 mile U-shaped highway consisting of the Brookshire Freeway on the north side of uptown.

- So the first segment was actually built in the '70s.

- [Jason] And the Belk Freeway on the south side of town.

- And then the other part, the southern part was built in the early mid '80s, - [Jason] Add in I-77 to the west connecting the U and it's just over six miles in total.

- So there's like different experiences I think you can have being there driving on 277 just based on the time of day.

- [Jason] It's a highway that's taken its fair share of criticism since it was constructed from the neighborhoods it divided to its tough to navigate interchanges.

What's driving on 277 like for you?

- (laughs) I guess it's kind of like a nightmare.

A lot of frustration.

A lot of, like, questioning what people are doing.

- [Jason] While the six main lanes of I-277 are still very functional, it's the on-ramps and exits that are causing the issues.

Mainly because there's three to four more times the number of cars using the highway than it was originally designed for.

- The problems that interchanges, the ramps, the merge weave, deceleration lanes, to get onto those ramps are shorter than you would want for this volume of traffic.

The ramps themselves are shorter than you'd want for this type of traffic.

And the opposite of that is when they're getting on those acceleration lanes aren't as long as you'd want for this volume of traffic.

- I think it kind of lends itself to a game 'cause it like already driving through it feels like a game.

I know like my heart starts racing and, like, "Am I gonna make it?"

- [Jason] Mike Ramirez moved from Florida to Charlotte five years ago.

- I'm a software engineer.

- [Jason] A software engineer by trade, a video game player by passion.

- If I think back, like, what is the earliest thing I remember, it's like "Super Mario Brothers".

(playful music) (graphics warbling) I think when I was seven I got a Sega Genesis.

I remember playing that a lot.

- [Jason] That video game love has carried over to adulthood.

When he is not at work.

Mike dabbles in creating his own video games.

More than a dozen of them so far.

His latest, the Charlotte-themed "Exit 3A".

- "Exit 3A" already is like pretty infamous.

It's not the game that's making it that way.

It's like the exit is infamous for a reason.

I wanted to make a game about Independence, driving down Independence and have it end in Exit 3A, but I thought a game like that would be too much work.

So I was, like, "Oh, maybe just Exit 3A."

And so there's like different modes that I run it in as I'm, like, testing out different things.

- [Jason] He could have picked just about any interchange along I-277 but chose Exit 3A due to its unique dynamics.

- [Mike] You're dealing with the people that are going towards Independence.

That's kind of like a little bit of a nightmare.

You get past that and then you're heading towards Exit 3A and you have the people coming from Independence the other direction, you're kind of cutting across that.

Then you're getting into the actual exit that is always like backed up.

- We pulled accident data for Exit 3A itself and then in 2023 and 2024 there were eight crashes with people, you know, trying to get on that exit.

Six of those eight were rear end or sideswiped.

Which would you expect for, you know, a congested location.

- [Jason] Putting his software engineering and video game creating skills to use, Mike spent part of the last year creating a simulation of driving towards and onto Exit 3A.

- [Mike] The game would start like around here and you're driving along 277.

So people are going to Independence here.

You go around this way, the Independence traffic coming in here, and then you're making this first exit right there.

That's Exit 3A.

It's the people here trying to go straight and left and whereas the people on Exit 3A, they're like coming here because they want to make that first right.

And so it's always like- - Yeah.

- A nightmare.

- [Jason] Players drive a pickup truck filled with all types of cargo and the truck handles differently based on what's in bag.

- [Mike] With this, I can't see quite as much.

Some of the cars are in a way.

They weigh differently, they react differently, so there's like a little difference than that.

But I wanna get...

I wanna have like more mechanics based on, like, what cargo you select.

It's always fun to just crashing and stuff.

In the game, not in real life.

(laughs) - It's an interesting concept.

It looks like it's gonna be fun.

I mean, I honestly when he releases it would be interested in playing it.

- So there's, like, a time mechanic and, like, points and adding, like, score and, like, tracking things like what cars you hit, how many cars you pass, and things like that.

That all, like, multiplier score to like get like a top score, but it's very arcade-like.

- [Jason] As for I-277, not the gain but the real version, the state is well aware of its deficiencies and has plans in place to address it.

- So we did a feasibility study to basically redo all of 277.

And so what it would've done is reduce the number of exits, consolidate, but also improve those interchanges to where they can handle the volume of traffic.

And that was about a half a billion dollar project.

- [Jason] If that project ever gets done though, it is another issue.

- The project's been submitted through our STI, State Transportation Investment Act, for funding.

It just wasn't selected.

- [Jason] So in the meantime, Mike will keep working on "Exit 3A", a game that's certainly got a lot of people around town talking.

- I've had a lot of phone interviews which are a little easier for me to just kind of take a phone interview and then I think this might be the fourth or fifth video interview and then I have one tomorrow and one on Friday.

I know.

(laughs) - Okay, a fun way to deal with something that I deal with every single day.

What's the next step for him?

- II think that's what really makes it unique is people can relate and that, you know, kinda like comedians.

When people can relate to things, that's where it kind of resonates.

Well, Mike says the game is not yet complete.

He's still toying around with it, wanting to make the surroundings more lifelike and may expand the game to not just Exit 3A focusing there, but maybe the whole 277 loop with the other interchanges or you know, how to get off and on Independence 'cause that one's always tricky as well.

But, you know, anyone that drives that can relate to this video game.