Brentwood Municipal Code Ch. 10.06 Traffic Control Devices

A. The city engineer shall have the power and duty to place and maintain, or cause to be placed and maintained, official traffic control devices when and as required to make effective the provisions of this chapter in compliance with Section 10.03.020.

B. Whenever the California Vehicle Code requires, for the effectiveness of any provision thereof, that traffic control devices be installed to give notice to the public of the application of such law, the city engineer is authorized to install, or cause to be installed, the necessary devices, subject to any limitations or restrictions set forth in the law applicable thereto.

C. The city engineer may also place and maintain, or cause to be placed and maintained, such additional traffic control devices as he may deem necessary or proper to regulate traffic or to guide or warn traffic. But he/she shall make such determinations only upon the basis of traffic engineering principles and traffic investigations and in accordance with such standards, limitations, and rules as may be set forth in this chapter or as may be determined by ordinance or resolution of the council.

(Ord. 592 § 1, 1998)

No provision of the California Vehicle Code or of this chapter for which signs are required shall be enforced against an alleged violator unless appropriate legible signs are in place giving notice of such provisions of the traffic laws.

(Ord. 592 § 1, 1998)

The operator of any vehicle, train, or bike, or the person in control of any animal or animal-drawn conveyance, shall obey the instructions of any official traffic control device placed in accordance with the provisions of this chapter, unless otherwise directed by a police officer or other authorized person, subject to the exceptions granted the operator of an authorized emergency vehicle when responding to emergency calls.

(Ord. 592 § 1, 1998)

A. The city engineer is directed to install and maintain official traffic signals at those intersections and other places where traffic conditions are such as to require that the flow of traffic be alternately interrupted and released in order to prevent or relieve traffic congestion or to protect life or property from exceptional hazard.

B. The city engineer shall ascertain and determine the locations where such signals are required by field investigations, traffic counts, consultation with other departments, and other traffic information as may be pertinent, and his/her determinations therefrom shall be made in accordance with those traffic engineering and safety standards and instructions set forth in the traffic manual issued by the State Department of Transportation or as approved by the city council.

C. Whenever the city engineer installs and maintains an official traffic signal at any intersection, street name signs shall likewise be erected and maintained at such intersection clearly visible to traffic approaching from all directions, unless such street name signs have previously been placed and are maintained at any such intersection.

(Ord. 592 § 1, 1998)

The city engineer is authorized to mark center lines and lane lines upon the surface of the roadway to indicate the course to be traveled by vehicles and may place signs temporarily designating lanes to be used by traffic moving in a particular direction, regardless of the center line of the street or highway.

(Ord. 592 § 1, 1998)

The city engineer is authorized to place and maintain distinctive roadway markings, as described in the California Vehicle Code, on those streets or parts of streets where the volume of traffic of the vertical or other curvature of the roadway renders it hazardous to drive on the left side of such markings or signs and markings. Such markings or signs and markings shall have the same effect as similar markings placed by the State Department of Transportation pursuant to the provisions of the California Vehicle Code.

(Ord. 592 § 1, 1998)

The city engineer is authorized to remove, relocate, or discontinue the operation of any traffic control device not specifically required by the California Vehicle Code or this title whenever he/she shall determine in any particular case that the conditions which warranted or required the installation no longer exist or apply.

(Ord. 592 § 1, 1998)

It is unlawful for any person to place, maintain or display any sign or device upon or in view of a street which purports to be, is an imitation of, or resembles an official warning or direction sign or signal, or which in any other manner attempts to direct the movement of traffic or the actions of operators without authority. Any such unauthorized sign or device is a public nuisance and the chief of police or city engineer shall remove it or cause it to be removed without notice.

(Ord. 592 § 1, 1998)

No public utility shall erect or place in any street any barrier or sign except of a type approved by the city engineer. It is unlawful for any operator or pedestrian to disobey the instructions of any such approved barrier or sign.

(Ord. 592 § 1, 1998)

It is unlawful for any person to willfully deface, injure, move or interfere with any official warning or direction sign or signal.

(Ord. 592 § 1, 1998)

The city engineer shall determine the hours and days during which any traffic control device shall be in operation or be in effect, except in those cases where such hours or days are specified in this chapter.

(Ord. 592 § 1, 1998)

No person, unless authorized by the city, shall paint any street or curb surface; provided, however, the provisions of this section shall not apply to the painting of numbers on a curb surface by any person who has received authorization in writing from the city engineer.

(Ord. 592 § 1, 1998)

Whenever any provision of this title delegates authority to a city officer, or authorizes action by the city council to regulate traffic upon a state highway in any way which by law requires the prior approval of the state, no such officer shall exercise such authority nor shall such action by the city council be effective with respect to any state highway without the prior approval in writing of the state when and to the extent required by Division 9 and Division 11 of the Vehicle Code.

(Ord. 592 § 1, 1998)

Any provision of this title which regulates traffic or delegates the regulation of traffic upon state highways in any way for which the approval of the state is required by law, shall cease to be operative six months after receipt by the city council of written notice of withdrawal of approval by the state.

(Ord. 592 § 1, 1998)