160A-296. Establishment and control of streets; center and edge lines.
(a) A city shall have general authority and control over all public streets, sidewalks, alleys, bridges, and other ways of public passage within its corporate limits except to the extent that authority and control over certain streets and bridges is vested in the Board of Transportation. General authority and control includes but is not limited to all of the following:
(1) The duty to keep the public streets, sidewalks, alleys, and bridges in proper repair.
(2) The duty to keep the public streets, sidewalks, alleys, and bridges open for travel and free from unnecessary obstructions.
(3) The power to open new streets and alleys, and to widen, extend, pave, clean, and otherwise improve existing streets, sidewalks, alleys, and bridges, and to acquire the necessary land therefor by dedication and acceptance, purchase, or eminent domain.
(4) The power to close any street or alley either permanently or temporarily.
(5) The power to regulate the use of the public streets, sidewalks, alleys, and bridges.
(6) The power to regulate, license, and prohibit digging in the streets, sidewalks, or alleys, or placing therein or thereon any pipes, poles, wires, fixtures, or appliances of any kind either on, above, or below the surface. To the extent a municipality is authorized under applicable law to impose a fee or charge with respect to activities conducted in its rights-of-way, the fee or charge must apply uniformly and on a competitively neutral and nondiscriminatory basis to all comparable activities by similarly situated users of the rights-of-way. No fee or charge for activities conducted in the right-of-way shall be assessed on businesses listed in G.S. 160A-206(b), except the following:
a. Fees to recover any difference between a city's right-of-way management expenses related to the activities of businesses listed in G.S. 160A-206(b) and distributions under Article 5 of Chapter 105 of the General Statutes.
b. Payments under agreements subject to G.S. 62-350.
(7) The power to provide for lighting the streets, alleys, and bridges of the city.
(8) The power to grant easements in street rights-of-way as permitted by G.S. 160A-273.
(a1) A city with a population of 250,000 or over according to the most recent decennial federal census may also exercise the power granted by subdivision (a)(3) of this section within its extraterritorial planning jurisdiction. Before a city makes improvements under this subsection, it shall enter into a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Transportation to provide for maintenance.
(b) Repealed by Session Laws 1991, c. 530, s. 6, effective January 1, 1992. (1917, c. 136, subch. 5, s. 1; subch. 10, s. 1; 1919, cc. 136, 237; C.S., ss. 2787, 2793; 1925, c. 200; 1963, c. 986; 1971, c. 698, s. 1; 1973, c. 507, s. 5; 1979, c. 598; 1991, c. 530, s. 6; 2001-261, s. 1; 2006-151, s. 14; 2016-103, s. 9(a).)
Structure North Carolina General Statutes
North Carolina General Statutes
Chapter 160A - Cities and Towns
Article 15 - Streets, Traffic and Parking.
§ 160A-296 - Establishment and control of streets; center and edge lines.
§ 160A-296.1 - Facilitation of broadband deployment.
§ 160A-297 - Streets under authority of Board of Transportation.
§ 160A-298 - Railroad crossings.
§ 160A-299 - Procedure for permanently closing streets and alleys.
§ 160A-300.1 - Use of traffic control photographic systems.
§ 160A-300.6 - Regulation of golf carts on streets, roads, and highways.
§ 160A-302 - Off-street parking facilities.
§ 160A-302.1 - Fishing from bridges regulated.
§ 160A-303 - Removal and disposal of junked and abandoned motor vehicles.
§ 160A-303.1 - Regulation of the placing of trash, refuse and garbage within municipal limits.
§ 160A-303.2 - Regulation of abandonment of junked motor vehicles.
§ 160A-304 - Regulation of taxis.
§ 160A-305 - Agreements under National Highway Safety Act.
§ 160A-306 - Building setback lines.
§ 160A-307 - Curb cut regulations.
§ 160A-307.1 - Limitation on city requirements for street improvements related to schools.