Solano County Municipal Code Art. I Traffic Orders

17-10 Purpose of chapter

The purposes of this chapter are to:

(a) Establish a procedure for the adoption of traffic regulations applying to particular streets, highways, intersections and certain grounds and private roads.

(b) Establish a procedure with respect to the use of non-regulatory traffic control devices and both regulating and non-regulating striping and pavement markings.

(Ord. No. 539, §1; Ord. No. 1438, §1)

17-11 Delegation of power to director of transportation

The board of supervisors delegates those statutory powers granted to the position of county road commissioner to the director of transportation, pursuant to provisions of Streets and Highways Code § 2006.1.

(Ord. No. 1438, §1; Ord. No. 1711, §3)

17-12 Traffic orders--Authority of director of transportation

The director of transportation of the county may make traffic orders establishing any of the following regulations:

(a) Regulating traffic by means of semaphores or other official traffic-control devices.

(b) Designating particular highways as one-way highways and requiring that all vehicles thereon be moved in one specified direction.

(c) Closing any highway or a portion of it, when in the opinion of the director of transportation the highway is no longer needed or cannot safely be used for vehicular traffic.

(d) Designating any highways as a through highway and requiring that all vehicles stop before entering or crossing the highway.

(e) Designating any intersection as a stop intersection and requiring all vehicles to stop at one or more entrances to the intersections.

(f) Prohibiting the use of particular highways by certain vehicles, except as otherwise provided by the public utilities commission pursuant to article 2, chapter 5, part 1, division 1, of the Public Utilities Code of this state.

No ordinance which is adopted pursuant to this provision hereafter shall apply to any state highway which is included in the National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, except an ordinance which has been approved by the California Transportation Commission by a four-fifths vote.

(g) Temporarily close a portion of any street for celebrations, parades, local special events, and other purposes, when, in the opinion of the director of transportation, the closing is necessary for the safety and protection of persons who are to use that portion of the street during the temporary closure.

(h) Closing particular streets during regular school hours for the purpose of conducting automobile driver training programs in the secondary schools and colleges in the county.

(i) Closing to vehicular traffic that portion of any street or highway crossing or dividing any school grounds when in the opinion of the road commissioner the closing is necessary for the protection of persons attending the school or using the school grounds. The closing to vehicular traffic may be limited to the hours and days that the road commissioner may specify.

(j) Prohibiting entry to, or exit from, or both from any street by means of islands, curbs, traffic barriers, or other road way design features to implement the circulation element of a general plan adopted pursuant to Government Code § 65350, consistent with public health and safety of the citizens of the county.

(k) Establishing crosswalks between intersections.

(l) Directing that pedestrians shall not cross in a crosswalk indicated at an intersection.

(m) Regulating vehicular traffic on private owned and maintained roads or ways within the boundaries of a privately owned airport, when the roads or ways are expressly open to the general public for purposes of vehicular traffic.

(n) Regulating vehicular and pedestrian traffic in subways, tubes and tunnels or on bridges or viaducts.

(o) Requiring that all vehicles stop before entering or crossing the tracks at any highway railroad grade crossing.

(p) Regulating vehicular traffic on privately owned and maintained roads or ways within the boundaries of any housing project or within the site of any housing owned or operated by a housing authority created under and by virtue of the Housing Authorities Law, section 34200 et seq., of the Health and Safety Code of the state, on privately owned and maintained roads or ways within areas which would be a residence district if the road or way were a public highway, or with the consent of the owner, on publicly owned and maintained roads and ways within areas not owned by this county.

(q) Prohibiting the making of any turning movement by any vehicle at any intersection or between any designated intersections.

(r) Prohibiting the parking or standing of vehicles on certain streets or highways, or portions thereof, during all or certain hours of the day.

(s) Declaring a prima facie speed limit of thirty, thirty-five, forty, forty-five, fifty, or a maximum speed limit of fifty-five on any street other than a state highway otherwise subject to a prima facie speed limit of twenty-five miles per hour.

(t) Declaring a prima facie speed limit of fifty, forty-five, forty, thirty-five, thirty, or twenty-five miles per hour on any portion of any street other than a state highway where the street is subject to a speed limit of fifty-five miles per hour.

(u) Regulating the installation and operation of mechanical devices for the control of vehicular and pedestrian traffic.

(v) Establishing weight limitations for vehicles traveling over county roads and bridges.

(w) Regulating public grounds of county property as provided for in section 21113, State Vehicle Code.

(x) Find and declare, after a public hearing, that there is a privately owned and maintained road, within the county, as described in an ordinance or resolution, that is generally held open for use by the public for vehicular travel and which so connect with highways that the public cannot determine that the road is not highway, and therefore the provisions of the Vehicle Code should apply to that private road.

(y) Find and declare, after a public hearing, that there is a privately owned and maintained road, within the county, as described in an ordinance or resolution, that is not generally held open for use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel but, by reason of its proximity to or connection with highways, the interests of any residents residing along the road and the motoring public will best be served by application of the provisions of the Vehicle Code to the road.

(z) Any other traffic regulations not mentioned in subdivisions (a) through (y) above, but contained in the latest amendments to the California Vehicle Code.

(Ord. No. 539, §2; Ord. No. 760, §2; Ord. No. 1438, §1; Ord. No. 1711, §4)

17-13 Same--Traffic and engineering survey required; standards generally

Every traffic order made under section 17-11 shall be based on a traffic and engineering survey and shall conform with accepted principles and practices of traffic engineering.

(Ord. No. 539, §3; Ord. No. 1438, §1)

17-14 Same--Adoption by resolution of board of supervisors; placement of signs and markings

No traffic order shall be effective until:

(a) It has been adopted by resolution of the board of supervisors; and

(b) Appropriate signs or markings, meeting the requirements of the Vehicle Code of the state, are placed to give notice of the regulation to the traveling public unless the regulation itself constitutes notice.

(Ord. No. 539, §4; Ord. No. 1438, §1)

17-15 Resolutions adopting traffic orders

(a) Resolutions adopting traffic orders shall be numbered consecutively, in a numerical series separate from that applied to other resolutions of the board of supervisors.

(b) A copy of each resolution adopting a traffic order shall be filed with the director of transportation.

(Ord. No. 539, §5; Ord. No. 1438, §1; Ord. No. 1711, §5)

17-16 Penalties

A violation of traffic orders adopted under this chapter shall constitute an offense and on conviction thereof, shall be punished as a misdemeanor or an infraction as provided in section 42001 of the State Vehicle Code.

(Ord. No. 539, §6; Ord. No. 760, §2; Ord. No. 1438, §1)

17-17 Non-regulatory traffic control devices and striping of any kind

Based on sound traffic engineering principles and consistent with the latest traffic manual of the State of California and the latest manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways published by the U. S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, the county shall place on county roads appropriate warning signs, construction signs, guide signs, pavement delineations and markings, flashing beacons, safety lighting and non-regulatory traffic control devices without requiring a traffic order.

(Ord. No. 1438, §1)

17-18 Enforcement

Enforcement of this chapter shall be performed by the Commissioner of the California Highway Patrol, except on such private roads and property where the California Highway Patrol by law is prohibited from providing traffic law enforcement.

(Ord. No. 760, §3; Ord. No. 1438, §1)

17-19 Repealed

(Ord. No. 1580, §1; Ord. No. 1586, §1; Ord. No. 1588, §1; Ord. No. 1594, §1; Ord. No. 1614, §1; Ord. No. 1833, §1)

FORMER ARTICLE II PERTAINING TO ABANDONED AND WRECKED VEHICLES NOW IN CHAPTER 6.5