Ventura Municipal Code Ch. 16.120 Traffic Control Devices

A. The city traffic engineer, with the approval of the city manager, shall have the power 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 title.

B. Whenever the 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 traffic engineer, with the approval of the city manager, is hereby 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 traffic engineer, with the approval of the city manager, may also place and maintain or cause to be placed and maintained such additional traffic control devices as the traffic engineer may deem necessary or proper to regulate traffic or to guide or warn traffic, but the traffic engineer shall make such determination 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 title or as may be determined by ordinance or resolution of the council. (Code 1971, § 7141)

A. Traffic Engineer to Install. The city traffic engineer, with the approval of the city manager, is hereby 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. Location Determined by Field Investigation. The city traffic engineer, with the approval of the city manager, shall ascertain and determine the locations where such signals are required by field investigation, traffic counts and other traffic information as may be pertinent and the traffic engineer’s determinations therefrom shall be made in accordance with those traffic engineering and safety standards and instructions set forth in the California Maintenance Manual issued by the Division of Highways of the State Department of Public Works.

C. Manual and Specifications for Traffic Control Devices. All traffic control signs, signals and devices shall conform to the manual and specifications approved by the Division of Highways, State Department of Public Works. All signs and signals required hereunder for a particular purpose shall so far as practicable be uniform as to type and location throughout the city. All traffic control devices so erected and not inconsistent with the provisions of state law or this code shall be official traffic control devices.

D. Traffic Control Devices for Work on Streets. All work areas in or on the city’s streets shall be signed, channelized, illuminated and controlled in conformance with the requirements of the “Manual of Warning Signs, Lights, and Devices for Use in Performance of Work Upon Highway” compiled by the Department of Public Works, Division of Highways, in accordance with Section 21406 of the California Vehicle Code. Every person placing traffic control devices for work on streets shall designate in writing to the police department before placing such devices an authorized representative who shall have complete authority to represent and act for such person and perform such emergency work as may be required. (Code 1971, § 7142)

A. Obedience Required. The operator of any vehicle or train shall obey the instructions of any official traffic control device placed in accordance with this title 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.

B. Traffic Control Signs Required for Enforcement Purposes. No provision of the Vehicle Code or of this title 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. (Code 1971, § 7143)

A. No other officer, board or department of this city, and no private agency or person, shall install, place or maintain any traffic control device within the purview of this title except upon the order of the city traffic engineer with the approval of the city manager.

B. No person shall place, maintain or display upon or in view of any highway an unauthorized sign, signal, marking or device which purports to be or is an imitation of or resembles an official traffic control device or railroad sign or signal, or which attempts to direct the movement of traffic, or which hides from view or interferes with the effectiveness of any official traffic control device or any railroad sign or signal.

C. No person shall place or maintain nor shall any public authority permit upon any highway any traffic sign or signal bearing thereon any commercial advertising.

D. This section shall not be deemed to prohibit the erection upon private property adjacent to highways of signs giving useful directional information and of a type that cannot be mistaken for official signs.

E. Every such prohibited sign, signal or marking is hereby declared to be a public nuisance and the authority having jurisdiction over the highway is hereby empowered to remove the same or cause it to be removed without notice and at the expense of the person who placed such sign, signal, or marking. (Code 1971, § 7144)

A. Interference Unlawful. No person shall, without lawful authority, attempt to or in fact alter, deface, injure, knock down or remove any official traffic control device or any railroad sign or signal or any inscription, shield or insignia thereon, or any other part thereof.

B. Unauthorized Painting of Curbs. No person, unless authorized by this city, shall paint any street or curb surface; provided, however, that this section shall not apply to the painting of numbers on a curb surface by any person who has complied with the provisions of any resolution or ordinance of this city pertaining thereto. (Code 1971, § 7145)

A. Designating Crosswalks and Establishing Safety Zones. The city traffic engineer, with the approval of the city manager, is hereby authorized to:

1. Designate and maintain, by appropriate devices, marks, or lines upon the surface of the roadway, crosswalks at intersections where, in their opinion, there is particular danger to pedestrians crossing the roadway, and at such other places as the traffic engineer may deem necessary;

2. Establish safety zones of such kind and character and at such places as the traffic engineer may deem necessary for the protection of pedestrians.

B. Lane Marking. The city traffic engineer, with the approval of the city manager, is hereby 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 highway.

C. Distinctive Roadway Markings. The city traffic engineer, with the approval of the city manager, is authorized to place and maintain distinctive roadway markings as described in the Vehicle Code on those streets or parts of streets where the volume of traffic or the horizontal 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 Public Works pursuant to provisions of the Vehicle Code. (Code 1971, § 7146)

The city traffic engineer, with the approval of the city manager, is hereby authorized to remove, relocate or discontinue the operation of any traffic control device not specifically required by the Vehicle Code or this title whenever the traffic engineer shall determine in any particular case that the conditions which warranted or required the installation no longer exist or obtain. (Code 1971, § 7147)

The city traffic 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 title. (Code 1971, § 7148)

A. Whenever a traffic sign or traffic control device is placed in a position approximately conforming to the requirements of the San Buenaventura Municipal Code, it shall be presumed to have been placed by the official act or direction of lawful authority, unless the contrary is established by competent evidence.

B. Any sign or traffic control device placed pursuant to the San Buenaventura Municipal Code and purporting to conform to the lawful requirements pertaining to it shall be presumed to comply with the requirements of such code unless the contrary is established by competent evidence.

C. Traffic Regulations and Traffic Control Devices in Place Ratified and Reenacted. All traffic regulations and all traffic control devices in place on March 1, 1964, are hereby reenacted, ratified and confirmed. Such regulations and such traffic control devices shall remain in full force and effect until changed pursuant to the San Buenaventura Municipal Code or the California Vehicle Code. (Code 1971, § 7149)