Wasco Municipal Code Ch. 10.12 Traffic-Control DEVICES1

Sections:

A. The chief of police shall have the exclusive power and duty to place and maintain or cause to be placed and maintained official traffic-control devices when and as required under the traffic ordinances of this city to make effective the provisions of those ordinances.

B. Whenever the vehicle code of this state 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 traffic authority is authorized to install the necessary devices, subject to any limitations or restrictions set forth in the law applicable thereto.

C. The traffic authority may also place and maintain such additional traffic-control devices as he may deem necessary to regulate traffic or to guide or warn traffic, but he 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 the traffic ordinances of this city, or as may be determined by ordinance or resolution of the legislative body of this city. (Ord. 467 §1, 2002; Ord. 50 §25, 1951).

No provision of the vehicle code or of this title for which signs are required shall be enforced against an alleged violator unless appropriate signs are in place and sufficiently legible to be seen by an ordinarily observant person, giving notice of such provisions of the traffic laws. (Ord. 50 §26, 1951).

A. The traffic authority 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 traffic authority shall ascertain and determine the locations where such signals are required by resort to field observation, traffic counts and other traffic information as may be pertinent, and his determinations therefrom shall be made in accordance with those traffic engineering and safety standards and instructions set forth in the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), issued by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and the California Supplement to the MUTCD, issued by the California Department of Transportation. (Ord. 467 §1, 2002; Ord. 323 §3, 1987; Ord. 50 §28, 1951).

The traffic authority is authorized to mark centerlines and lane lines upon the surface of the roadway to indicate the course to be traveled by vehicles. The chief of police or the traffic authority may place signs temporarily designating lanes to be used by traffic moving in a particular direction, regardless of the centerline of the highway. When authorized signs have been placed designating-off center traffic lanes, no person shall disobey the instructions given by such signs. (Ord. 467 §1, 2002; Ord. 50 §29, 1951).

The traffic authority is authorized to remove, relocate or discontinue the operation of any traffic-control device not specifically required by state law or this title whenever he shall determine, in any particular case, that the conditions which warranted or required the installation no longer exist or obtain. (Ord. 467 §1, 2002; Ord. 50 §30, 1951).

The chief of police 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. (Ord. 50 §31, 1951).

1 For statutory provisions on local authority to place traffic-control devices, see Vehicle Code §§21351 et seq. and 21450 et seq.