News About Town: The Board of Commissioners voted down the Pleasant Plains multi-use path this past Monday. The proposed path would extend from the I-485 bridge to McKee Road. Issues presented by town staff included the narrow sidewalk on the bridge and escalating construction costs.

News Around Town: NCDOT is on a budget freeze at least in part due to Map Act lawsuits. These lawsuits deemed one of the property acquisition approaches by NCDOT to be unconstitutional. NCDOT, in the past, has claimed land for future projects without buying the property and locking landowners into ownership without the option to sell. Some property owners have been waiting for decades for NCDOT to purchase their land. Property acquisition, legal fees, and inflation could bring settlement costs in excess of $1 billion. What does that mean for Matthews? Without money, plans are delayed, including the NC 51 widening, McKee Rd. extension, and rerouting a portion of Northeast Pkwy.

One Good Thing: This one’s for the newbies: If you love a good parade you are going to love the Matthews Alive! parade this Saturday (August 31). Starting at 9:30 am, the parade route begins on Matthews-Mint Hill Rd. at McLeod St., heads toward Trade, where it turns left and follows Trade up to the Methodist church parking lot. Get there early and bring a chair. The crowd gets packed and you’ll want to have a good seat to see all the cars, floats, and marching bands. This one’s part of the reason Matthews has such small-town charm.