HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance No. 147 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF THE COLONY, TEXAS, GOVERNING TRAFFIC
AND MOTOR VEHICLE OPERATION; PROVIDING DEFINITIONS; PROVIDING FOR A
TRAFFIC ADMINISTRATOR; PROVIDING SPEED REGULATIONS; PROVIDING TRUCK ROUTES;
PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; PROVIDING FOR A PENALTY OF FINE NOT TO
EXCEED THE SUM OF TWO HUNDRED ($200.00) DOLLARS FOR EACH OFFENSE;
REPEALING ORDINANCES NUMBER 29, 41, 47, 75, 97 AND 98; AND PROVIDING
AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF THE COLONY,
TEXAS:
SECTION 1. This ordinance shall be known as the Motor Vehicle
and Traffic Code of the City of The Colony.
SECTION 2. Definitions.
In this ordinance:
(a) Alley means any narrow street or minor way used pri-
marily for vehicular service access to the back or the side
of properties otherwise abutting on a street and having no
legal or official name other than "alley".
(b) Bus means every motor vehicle designed for carrying
more than ten (10) passengers and used for the commercial
transportation of persons.
(c) Commercial motor vehicle means any motor vehicle
designed or used for the transportation of property, not
including a passenger bus, passenger automobile, motor-
cycle, panel delivery truck, or pickup truck, but including
any other type truck, tractor, trailer, semi-trailer, pole
trailer or any combination thereof which has a gross regis-
tered carrying capacity of more than 4,000 pounds.
(d) Curb means the lateral lines of a roadway, whether
constructed above grade or not, which are not intended
for vehicular travel.
(e) Divided roadway or highway means a roadway or highway
divided into two roadways by leaving an intervening space
or by a physical barrier, or clearly indicated dividing
section between the two roadways.
(f) Loading zone means a space adjacent to a curb reserved
for the exclusive use of vehicles during the loading or
unloading of passengers or materials.
(g) Median strip means that area or portion of a divided
street, road, or highway Within the City separating the two
roadways of said street, road, or highway and shall be held
to include the curb, if any, at the outer edge of said area.
(h) Mobile home means living quarters equipped or used for
sleeping and eating which may be moved from one location
to another over a public street by being pulled behind a
motor vehicle.
(i) Motor home means living quarters propelled by a motor
vehicle equipped or used for sleeping and eating which may
be moved from one location to another over a public street
not including a camper mounted on a pickup truck or a van
designed to carry ten (10) or fewer passengers.
(j) Operator means any person in control of a vehicle,
including a railroad train or vehicle being towed.
(k) Parking ban means certain hours during the day at which
times standing, parking, or stopping of a vehicle is prohibited
along the curb of designated streets as indicated by signs
authorized by the Traffic Engineer.
(1) School traffic zone means an area of a public street or
highway within the City and in the vicinity of a public or
private school and upon which children of school age walk or
cross at certain times of the day on school days.
(m) Traffic administrator means the person, or his authorized
representative, designated by the City Council to exercise the
powers and duties conferred upon him by this ordinance as
well as by the laws of the State of Texas vesting powers in
local traffic authorities.
SECTION 3. Traffic Administration
(a) The City Manager has the duty to see that all State laws and City
ordinances are effectively enforced. The City Manager is required to
exercise all powers and duties conferred upon him by ordinances relative to
traffic, as well as all provisions of State law prescribing the duties
of or vesting powers in the local traffic engineering authority. To
relieve the City Manager of the burden of traffic administration, there
is hereby created the office of City Traffic Administrator. The City
Traffic Administrator will be appointed by the City Council upon the
recommendation of the City Manager to exercise personally or by an
authorized representative the powers and duties relative to traffic as
prescribed hereafter in this ordinance.
(b) It shall be the duty of the Traffic Administrator to determine the
installation and proper timing of traffic control devices, to conduct
engineering analysis of traffic accidents, to devise remedial measures,
to conduct engineering investigation of traffic conditions and to direct
other City officials in the development of ways and means to improve traffic
conditions, and to carry out the additional powers and duties granted by
law.
(c) The Traffic Administrator or his designee, except as otherwise
directed from time to time by the City Manager, shall have power and is
hereby authorized to install and maintain traffic signals and signs, road
and highway markings and other traffic control devices indicating prohi-
bited or limited parking, restricted speed areas, one-way streets, truck
routes, school traffic zones and other signs or markings indicating
the place and manner of operating or parking vehicles.
(d) The Traffic Administrator or his designee shall also have power and
is hereby authorized to regulate the movement of pedestrians upon the
streets and sidewalks by the erection or placing of proper signs or
markers indicating the flow of pedestrian traffic.
(e) The Traffic Administrator or his designee shall also have power and
is hereby authorized to designate bus stops and taxi cab stands and to
erect signs prohibiting the parking of vehicles other than buses and taxi
cabs in such stands.
(f) The Traffic Administrator or his designee shall further have power
and is hereby authorized to cause all necessary signs, markers, lights
or other traffic control devices to be erected or placed on any street
or part of a street when he deems such action necessary to correct or
give warning of a hazard and is further empowered to place such temporary
speed limits at a construction site until the completion of such construc-
tion. He is further authorized and directed to determine fire lanes,
to prohibit or limit parking therein and to cause all necessary signs,
markers, or other traffic control devices to be erected or placed therein.
(g) The Traffic Administrator or his designee is further empowered and
authorized to mark off traffic lanes on streets and parts of streets
indicating and directing the flow of traffic when, in his judgment,
such action is necessary.
(h) All traffic control signs, signals, and devices shall conform to
the Texas Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and
Highways approved by the State Highway Commission or resolutions adopted
by the City Council, shall be uniform insofar as practicable as to type
and location throughout the City, and shall be official traffic control
devices so long as they are not inconsistent with the provisions of State
law or this ordinance.
SECTION 4. Police Powers and Duties Relative to Traffic
(a) It shall be the duty of the Police Department to enforce the traffic
regulations of the City and all of the State vehicle laws applicable
to street traffic in the City, to make arrests for traffic violations,
to investigate accidents, to cooperate with other City Departments in the
administration of the traffic laws and in developing ways and means to
improve traffic conditions, and to carry out those duties specially
imposed upon the Department by this section and other traffic ordinances
of the City.
(b) The Police Department shall keep a record of all citations for
offenses in violation of this ordinance, other traffic ordinances of
the City, or of the State Motor Vehicle Laws of which any person has been
charged, together with a record of the final disposition of any such
offenses.
(c) Officers of the Police Department who are assigned by the Chief of
Police to such duty are hereby authorized to direct traffic by voice,
hand, or signal, in accordance with the traffic laws, provided, however,
that in the event of a fire or other emergency, to expedite traffic or
safeguard pedestrians, officers of the Police or Fire Departments may
direct traffic as conditions require notwithstanding the provisions
of the traffic laws.
(d) A person commits an offense if he intentionally fails or refuses
to comply with the lawful order or direction of a Police Officer or
Fire Department Officer engaged in traffic control duties as provided
herein.
(e) Officers of the Police Department of the City are authorized to
issue citations for any traffic or parking violations within the City
as provided by law or to arrest and place in custody any operator of a
motor vehicle for violation of this ordinance or any traffic law of the
State of Texas, except where the issuance of a citation is mandatory,
and such officers are further authorized to impound vehicles found in
violation of parking or fire lane regulations or under circumstances
where the removal and impoundment of such vehicles is authorized by
State law.
SECTION 5. Speed Limits
(a) No person shall drive or operate a motor vehicle, motorcycle, bicycle,
motor driven cycle, motor assisted cycle, or any other vehicle of any
kind upon a public street, highway, parkway, or alley within the Corporate
Limits of the City of The Colony at any speed greater than is reasonable
and prudent under the circumstances then existing. Except as otherwise
provided herein, the following are established as the lawful speed
limits of the City and any speed in excess of the limits so specified
and established shall be prima facie evidence that such speed is not
reasonable or prudent and is unlawful, to-wit:
(1) Thirty (30) miles per hour in any urban district, "urban
district" meaning the territory contiguous to and including
any highway or street which is built up with structures
devoted to business, industry or dwelling houses, situated
at intervals of less than one hundred feet (100') for a
distance of one-quarter (~) of a mile or more on either side;
(2) Fifty-five (55) miles per hour on any other highway
outside any urban district, including farm to market roads.
(b) Upon the basis of an engineering and traffic investigation, the
City Council hereby alters the maximum prima facie speed limits upon
the following named public streets, highways and alleys of the City, and
determines and declares such speed limits to be reasonable and safe,
having regard to the actual and potential hazards, for vehicles traveling
thereon, to-wit:
STREET EXTENT SPEED (MPH)
South Colony Blvd. Farm to Market Road 423
to Paige Road 30
North Colony Blvd. At all points within the
City Limits 30
Paige Road At all points within the
City Limits 30
State Highway 121 From a point 2.209 miles
southwesterly from the north-
east City Limits line (Station
582 plus 73) and continuing in
a southwesterly direction for
a distance of 0.206 miles ap-
proximately, said point (Station
455 plus 20) being the south-
westerly City Limits of the
City of The Colony 45
STREET EXTENT SPEED (MPN)
State Highway 121 From Station 582 plus 73, the
northeast City Limits line,
southwesterly a distance of
2.209 miles 55
Farm to Market From Station 632 plus 33, its
Road 423 intersection with State High-
way 121, northerly a distance
of 2.412 miles, approximately
to the point (Station 504 plus
95) of its intersection with
the north City Limits 45
(c) A person commits an offense if he operates a vehicle on any public
street or highway named in this section at a speed greater than that in-
dicated herein or upon any public alley at a speed greater than ten (10)
miles per hour. Any speed in excess of such limits shall be prima facie
evidence that the speed is not reasonable nor prudent and is unlawful.
SECTION 6. Speed Limits in School Traffic Zones
Upon the basis of an engineering and traffic investigation, the
following streets are designated school traffic zones. The maximum
lawful prima facie speed limits hereinafter indicated for vehicles are
hereby determined and declared to be reasonable and safe, and such speed
limits are hereby fixed for vehicles travelling upon the following named
streets and highways, or parts thereof, during the hereinafter designated
hours on school days, either when such hours are described on official
school traffic zone speed limit signs located at said zones or when
school traffic zone signs bearing a flashing amber light and located at
said zones are in operation. Said speed limits shall be in effect on
school days from the hours of 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. and from 2:30 p.m.
to 4:00 p.m. The maximum lawful prima facie speed limit in said school
traffic zones during said hours shall be twenty (20) miles per hour.
The locations of said school traffic zones are as follows, to-wit:
STREET EXTENT
South Colony Blvd. From a point 600' east of its intersection
with Blair Oaks Drive to a point 600' west
of its intersection with Blair Oaks Drive
Blair Oaks Drive From the point of its intersection with
South Colony Blvd. to the point of its
intersection with Arbor Glen Road
Arbor Glen Road From the point of its intersection with Ash
Glen Lane to point 200' east of Blair Oaks
Drive
Nash Drive From a point 600~ west of John Yates Street
to the point of its intersection with Miller
Drive
John Yates Street From the point of its intersection with
Roberts Drive to the point of its inter-
section with Shannon Drive
North Colony Blvd. From a point 150' east of its intersection
with Allen Drive to a point 200' west of
its intersection with Blair Oaks Drive
SECTION 7. Parkin~ Requirements
(a) It shall be unlawful and a violation for any person to stop, stand
or park a vehicle at any place prohibited by the applicable laws of the
State of Texas.
(b) It shall be unlawful and a violation for any person to stop, stand
or park any vehicle at any time upon any public street, alleyway, public
place or fire lane when signs are erected or curbs painted giving notice
that parking there is prohibited.
(c) It shall be unlawful and a violation for any person to park any
motor vehicle upon any public street, alley, or public property of any
nature in the city for the purpose of greasing, changing oil, or repairing
such vehicle, except repairs necessitated by an emergency. With the
exception of it being allowable to have one vehicle for sale on the street
in front of a person's home if parked properly, it shall be unlawful
and a violation for any person to sell or exhibit property of any nature
upon any public street, alley, or public property of any nature in
the city.
(d) It shall be unlawful and a violation for any person to park a motor
vehicle in or upon any median strip as that term is defined herein.
(e) It shall be unlawful and a violation for any person to park a motor
vehicle in front of a public or private driveway or within 3' of the
curved portion of any such driveway without the effective consent of
the owner of the property on which the driveway is located.
SECTION 8. Truck Routes
(a) Except as otherwise provided herein, no person shall operate upon
any public street within the Corporate Limits of the City any commercial
motor vehicle except on such street or streets as are designated as truck
routes herein.
(b) The provisions of this section shall not apply to any such vehicle
which is travelling upon a street other than a truck route for the purpose
of making delivery of goods, wares, merchandise, building material or
other commodities to, or performing necessary utility or other services
for, a person or business establishment on such street, or to a vehicle
travelling to or from a truck terminal, garage, place of repair, residence
of the driver of such vehicle, place of performing a service, or a place
of loading or unloading, provided, however, that the operator of such
vehicle shall travel to and from such places over the shortest practicable
route to or from a point on a designated truck route. The provisions of
this section shall not apply to emergency vehicles operating in response
to any emergency call nor to vehicles operated by a public utility while
cruising in an assigned area for the purpose of inspecting the facilities
of such public utility or providing maintenance service to said facilities.
The provisions of this section shall not apply to vehicles operated for
public service, such as garbage trucks, street repair and water service
vehicles and maintenance vehicles.
(c) The Traffic Administrator or his designated representative shall
erect signs and markings to designate the truck routes set out herein,
and whenever any street designated as a truck route herein is being
repaired or is otherwise temporarily out of use, the Traffic Administrator
or his designated representative is authorized to designate alternate
truck routes for such period as may be necessary. The following streets
and parts of streets are designated "truck routes" under this section,
to-wit;
STREET EXTENT
South Colony Blvd. Farm to Market Road 423 to Paige Road
North Colony Blvd. From Farm to Market Road 423 to Taylor
Street
Farm to Market At all points within the City
Road 423 Limits
State Highway 121 At all points within the City Limits
SECTION 9. Maximum Weights, Dimensions and Fees
(a) Except as otherwise provided herein, it shall be unlawful and a
violation of this ordinance for any person to drive, operate or move, and/or
cause or permit to be driven, operated, or moved on a public street other
than a State or Federal Highway within the Corporate Limits of the City,
any motor vehicle with or without load, contrary to any of the regulations
contained in the section.
(b) 1. No vehicle shall exceed a total outside width, including any
load thereon, of ninety-six (96") inches except that the width
of a farm tractor shall not exceed nine (9') feet, excepting further
that the limitations as to size of vehicle shall not apply to
implements of husbandry, machinery used solely for the purpose
of drilling water wells regardless of whether it is a unit in
itself or is a unit mounted on a conventional vehicle or chassis,
and highway building and maintenance machinery temporarily pro-
pelled or moved upon the public highways, excepting further,
that the limitations as to size of vehicles stated in this section
shall not apply to vehicles on which implements of husbandry are
being carried or moved provided such vehicles are being moved by
the owner thereof or his agent or employee for the purpose of
carrying on agricultural operations, and provided further that such
implements are being moved or carried a distance of not more than
fifty (50) miles.
2. No vehicle unladen or with load shall exceed a height of
thirteen feet six inches (13'6") including load.
3. No motor vehicle shall exceed a length of forty-five (45')
feet. It shall be unlawful for any combination of vehicles to
be coupled together including, but not limited to, a truck and
semi-trailer, truck and trailer, truck-trailer and semi-trailer and
trailer, truck-tractor and two trailers, to exceed a length of
sixty-five (65') feet, if such combination of vehicles is operated
exclusively within the City Limits of the City of The Colony;
provided further that the above limitations shall not apply to
any mobile home and a motor vehicle, but no mobile home and motor
vehicle combination shall exceed a total length of fifty-five (55')
feet. No mobile home, as the same is defined herein, shall be
entitled to the exception contained in this subsection unless the
owner thereof shall have paid all taxes, including ad valorem taxes,
and fees due and payable under the laws of this State, levied on
said mobile home.
No passenger car, regardless of weight, nor any other motor vehicle
with an unloaded weight of less than two thousand five hundred
(2,500 lbs.) pounds, may be coupled with more than one other
vehicle or towing device at one time, provided that this section
does not apply to the towing of a disabled vehicle to the nearest
intake place for repairs.
If a passenger or other motor vehicle has an unloaded weight of
two thousand five hundred (2,500 lbs.) pounds or more, it may
be coupled with a towing device and one other vehicle.
4. No combination of vehicles or vehicle operated alone shall
carry any load extending more than three (3') feet beyond the
front thereof, nor, except as hereinabove provided, more than four
(4') feet beyond the rear thereof.
5. No passenger vehicle shall carry any load extending more than
three (3") inches beyond the line of the fenders on the left side
of such vehicle, nor extending more than six (6") inches beyond
the line of the fenders on the right side thereof; provided, that
the total overall width of such passenger vehicle shall in no
event exceed ninety-six (96") inches, including any and all
such load.
(c) No motor vehicle or combination of vehicles shall be operated or
caused or permitted to be operated upon any public street within the
Corporate Limits of the City of The Colony having a weight in excess
of any one or more of the following limitations:
1. In no event shall the total gross weight, with load, of any
vehicle or combination of vehicles, exceed eighty thousand
(80,000 lbs.) pounds.
2. "Axle Load" shall be defined as the total load transmitted
to the road by all wheels whose centers may be included between
two (2) parallel transverse vertical planes forty (40") inches
apart, extending across the full width of the vehicle.
3. The total gross weight concentrated on the highway surface
from any tandem-axle group shall not exceed thirty-four thousand
(34,000 lbs.) pounds for each such tandem-axle group. "Tandem-axle"
is defined as to be two (2) or more axles spaced forty (40) inches
or more apart from center to center having at least one (1) common
point of weight suspension.
4. Vehicles used exclusively to transport ready-mix concrete
may be operated upon the public streets of the City of The Colony
with a tandem-axle load not to exceed thirty-six thousand
(36,000 lbs.) pounds; a single axle load not to exceed twelve
thousand (12,000 lbs.) pounds; and a gross load not to exceed
forty-eight thousand (48,000 lbs.) pounds.
5. Vehicles used exclusively to transport milk may be operated
upon the public streets of the City of The Colony if distance
between the front wheel of the forward tandem-axle and the rear
wheel of the rear tandem-axle, measured longitudinally, is at
least twenty-eight (28') feet, and the maximum load carried
on any group of axles does not exceed sixty-eight thousand
(68,000 lbs.) pounds.
(d) The provisions of this section shall not apply to:
1. Any person operating or causing to be operated a motor vehicle
under a valid and subsisting permit for the operation of overweight
or oversized equipment for the transportation of such commodities
as cannot be reasonably dismantled issued by the State Highway
Department under the provisions of Article 6701a of the Revised
Civil Statutes Amended.
2. Emergency vehicles operating in response to any emergency call.
3. Vehicles operated for the purpose of constructing or maintaining
any public utility in the City of The Colony.
(e) Any peace officer having reason to believe that the gross weight
or axle load of a loaded motor vehicle is unlawful is authorized to weigh
the same by means of portable or stationary scales, or cause the same to
be weighed by any public weigher, and to require that such vehicle be
driven to the nearest available scales for the purpose of weighing.
In the event the gross weight of such vehicle be found to exceed the
maximum gross weight authorized by law, plus a tolerance allowance of
five percent (5%) of the gross weight authorized by law, such peace
officer shall issue an appropriate citation, unless the operator
possesses a valid overweight permit.
SECTION 10. Miscellaneous Regulations
(a) A funeral procession composed of a procession of vehicles shall be
identified by the display of a pennant on the outside of the lead vehicle
and hearse. Ail other vehicles in the procession shall have their head-
lamps on.
(b) Each driver in the funeral procession shall drive as near to the
right hand edge of the roadway as practical and follow the vehicle ahead
as closely as safe and practical.
(c) A person, not a member of a funeral procession, commits an offense
if he drives a vehicle between the vehicles comprising the funeral
procession while they are in motion and when those vehicles are conspi-
cuously designated as required herein.
(d) It shall be unlawful for any person to drive or operate any motor
vehicle over, upon, across, or within any median strip, except at a
crossover or intersection established by public authority.
(e) It shall be unlawful for any person to ride upon an automobile or
for the driver of any vehicle to permit another person to ride upon any
portion of any vehicle not designed or intended for the use of passengers
when the vehicle is in motion; provided, this provision shall not apply
to an employee engaged in the necessary discharge of duty, or to persons
riding within truck bodies in the space intended for merchandise.
(f) It shall be unlawful for the driver of any vehicle to turn such
vehicle so as to proceed in the opposite direction or to make a 180
degree turn (U-Turn) on any street posted with a sign or signs indicating
that such a movement is prohibited. U-Turns shall be permitted when not
so posted. It shall be further unlawful for the driver of any vehicle
to make a U-Turn in any event unless such movement can be made in safety
and without backing or otherwise interfering with other traffic.
(g) No person shall operate a motor vehicle off the pavement or main
travelled portion of the roadway or a designated or permitted parking
area onto any private or public property without the effective consent
of the owner. It shall be a defense to prosecution that the departure
from the pavement, main travelled portion of the roadway, or designated
or permitted parking area was required due to an emergency malfunction
of said motor vehicle and that there was no other safe place to operate
the vehicle or that such movement was required due to an order by a
peace officer. It shall be an exception to the provisions of this section
that the motor vehicle is a municipal vehicle performing municipal duties
or public utility vehicle performing service within an easement.
(h) No person shall operate a motor vehicle upon or over any curb of
any street within the City.
(i) In any prosecution for violation of this ordinance, it shall not
be necessary for the State to prove the installation or authority for
the erection of any official traffic control device, sign or signal.
Any person charged with a violation of this ordinance shall have the
right to prove that the sign, signal or traffic control device was not
installed or authorized by law.
(j) If any vehicle is found parked in violation of any parking provision
contained herein, or of State law, such fact shall be prima facie evidence
that the person in whose name it is registered parked such vehicle in
violation thereof.
SECTION 11. Ordinances 29, 41, 47, 75, 97 and 98 of the City
of The Colony, and all other ordinances in conflict herewith are hereby
repealed.
SECTION 12. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase
or portion of this ordinance is for any reason held invalid or unconsti-
tutional by any court of competent jurisdiction, such portion shall be
deemed a separate, distinct and independent provision and such holding
shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions hereof.
SECTION 13. Any person, firm or corporation violating any of
the provisions of this ordinance shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor
and, upon conviction in the Municipal Court of the City of The Colony,
Texas, shall be fined in an amount not to exceed the sum of Two Hundred
($200.00) Dollars for each offense, and each day shall constitute a
separate offense.
SECTION 14. This ordinance shall become effective from and
after its passage and the publication of the caption as the law and
charter in such cases provide.
R~AD AND PASSED ON FIRST READING on the /~ day of
~5'./6~/ , 1981.
FINALLY PASSED ON SECOND READING on the ~-~ day of
APPROVED:
ATTEST:
CIfSECRETARY
APPROVED AS TO LEGALITY '
OF THE FORM:
CITY ATTORNEY