Street Construction and Maintenance
There are three types of streets in the Town of Matthews- those maintained by the Town of Matthews, those maintained by NCDOT and private streets.
NCDOT maintains most of the larger roadways in Matthews, such as I-485, Independence Boulevard, Highway 51 (Matthews Township Parkway and some of Matthews-Mint Hill Road), Idlewild Road, Margaret-Wallace Road, portions of Sam Newell Road, South Trade Street, Weddington Road, McKee Road. For issues with these roadways, please contact NCDOT's County Maintenance Engineer at 704-596-5782. For current NCDOT projects under construction, contact the local Resident Engineer's Office at 704-847-5015. For future NCDOT projects, contact the District Engineer's Office at 704-596-6900.
There are very few private streets in Matthews. The majority of private streets are in developments currently under construction. Once the development has reached 80% build-out (80% of the buildings are occupied), the developer can petition Matthews to take over maintenance of the road. Maintenance of private streets are the responsibility of the developer, homeowner's association, or the residents living on the road.
For a comprehensive list of Town-maintained roads, please see our 2009 Powell Bill Map.
The Street Division is tasked with building new streets and maintaining the existing street system. Typical maintenance include crack sealing, full-depth patching and resurfacing.
To report a pothole or other street problems email. or call Robert Cooper at 704-847-7097.
Street Lighting
The Matthews Public Works Department provides street lighting on residential streets and thoroughfares through contracts with Duke Power and Union Power, depending on location. The Town budgets over $230,000 each year simply for lighting energy bills.
When lights are out, citizens can contact us at 704-847-3640 or e-mail. Please provide a specific location by address. We will forward this information to the correct power company.
The normal policy of both companies is to repair burned out lights within 3 business days, unless there are specific wiring problems. Occasionally, due to underground wiring, the repair may take 5 business days.
Citizens and subdivisions requesting new or additional lights may follow the Town Street Lighting Policy to make these requests.
Street Light Policy
Traffic Signals
Most all traffic signals in Matthews are under the control of the NC Department of Transportation (NCDOT). All issues relating to maintenance, repair and timing are handled by the NCDOT. Exceptions are the signals at NC 51 and Elizabeth, NC 51 and Alexander, and Margaret Wallace and Sam Newell, which are controlled and maintained by the City of Charlotte.
Signal problems can be reported to us at 704-847-3640, where they are forwarded to the NCDOT. Or, they can be reported directly to the NCDOT at 704-982-1998.