[Amended 3-15-2004; 1-4-2021]]
There is hereby created the Traffic Safety Committee,
to consist of two members of the City Council, two City residents,
the Police Chief, Fire Chief, Director of Public Works, Traffic Safety
Officer and City Administrator. It shall be the Committee's duty to:
A.
Determine the installation and proper timing and maintenance
of all traffic control devices;
B.
Conduct engineering analyses of accidents and to devise
remedial measures;
C.
Conduct engineering investigation of traffic conditions;
D.
Cooperate with other City officials in the development
of ways and means to improve traffic conditions;
E.
Consider requests for the closing of primary streets
for special events and adopt policy as it deems necessary for the
fulfillment of this provision;
F.
Carry out the additional powers and duties imposed
by other provisions of this code or other ordinances of the City.
A.
The Traffic Safety Committee shall place and maintain traffic control devices when and as required under the ordinances of the City to make effective the provisions of said ordinances and may place and maintain such additional traffic control devices as it may deem necessary to regulate traffic under the ordinances of this City or under state law or to guide or warn traffic, subject to the same procedure as in § 211-21.
B.
All traffic control devices shall conform to the manual
and specifications which may be approved by the State Highway Commission,
but on such devices as the State Highway Commission has issued no
regulation, they shall be such devices as are approved by the Traffic
Safety Committee. All traffic control devices so erected and not inconsistent
with the provisions of state law or this section shall be official
traffic control devices.
A.
Regulatory powers of the Police Chief and Traffic
Safety Committee shall be as follows:
(1)
The Chief of Police, with approval of the Traffic
Safety Committee, shall have authority to designate and maintain,
by appropriate devices, marks or lines upon the surface of the roadway,
crosswalks at intersections where, in his/her opinion, there is particular
danger to pedestrians crossing the roadway and at such other places
as he/she may deem necessary.
(2)
The Chief of Police, with approval of the Traffic
Safety Committee, shall establish safety zones of such kind and character
and at such places as he/she may deem necessary for the protection
of pedestrians.
(3)
The Chief of Police, with approval of the Traffic
Safety Committee, shall mark lanes for traffic on street pavements
at such places as he/she may deem advisable, consistent with the ordinances
of this City.
(4)
The Chief of Police, with approval of the Traffic
Safety Committee, shall designate a type of pennant to be displayed
upon and to identify the vehicles in funeral processions.
(5)
The Chief of Police, with approval of the Traffic
Safety Committee, shall determine those intersections at which drivers
of vehicles shall not make a right turn, left turn or U-turn and place
proper signs at such intersections.
(6)
Whenever the Chief of Police shall issue a regulation
prohibiting a right turn or a left turn at an intersection, the Chief
shall file a report of said regulation with the City Clerk, who shall
include it on the agenda of the next regular meeting of the City Council.
Said regulation shall take effect 10 days after the meeting of the
City Council at which the report is received and accepted; provided,
however, that should the Council vote to table the report, the regulation
shall not take effect until 10 days after the report is removed from
the table and accepted.
(7)
The Chief of Police, with approval of the Traffic
Safety Committee, shall place markers, buttons or signs within or
adjacent to intersections, indicating the course to be traveled by
vehicles turning at such intersections, and such course to be traveled
as so indicated may conform to or be other than as prescribed by law
or ordinance.
(8)
Zone of quiet.
(a)
The Chief of Police, with approval of the Traffic
Safety Committee, shall establish a permanent zone of quiet upon any
street where there is a hospital or convalescent home when requested
so to do by the proper authorities of the hospital or convalescent
home, the zone of quiet to embrace such territory adjacent to the
hospital or convalescent home as the Chief deems necessary.
(b)
The Chief of Police, with approval of the Traffic Safety Committee, shall temporarily establish a zone of quiet upon any street where a person is seriously ill if requested so to do by the written statement of at least one registered physician certifying to its necessity. The temporary zone of quiet shall embrace all territory within a radius of 200 feet of the building occupied by the person named in the request of the physician. The temporary zone of quiet provided in this subsection and in Subsection A(8)(a) shall be designated by the placing in a conspicuous place in the street of a sign or marking bearing the words "quiet zone."
(9)
The Chief of Police, with approval of the Traffic
Safety Committee, shall declare any street or part thereof a play
street and place appropriate signs or devices in the roadway indicating
and helping to protect the same.
(10)
The Chief of Police, with approval of the Traffic
Safety Committee, shall determine the location of passenger zones
and freight loading zones and place and maintain appropriate signs
indicating the same and stating the hours during which the provisions
of this subsection are applicable.
(11)
The Chief of Police, with approval of the Traffic
Safety Committee, shall establish bus stops and stands for other passenger
common carrier motor vehicles on such public streets in such places
and such manner as he shall determine to be of the greatest benefit
and convenience to the public, and every such bus stop or other stand
shall be designated by appropriate signs.
(12)
The Chief of Police, with approval of the Traffic
Safety Committee, shall erect signs indicating no parking upon that
side of any street adjacent to any school property when such parking
would, in his/her opinion, interfere with traffic or create a hazardous
situation.
(13)
The Chief of Police, with approval of the Traffic
Safety Committee, shall determine upon what streets angle parking
shall be permitted and shall mark or sign such streets.
(14)
Width of streets.
(a)
The Chief of Police, with approval of the Traffic
Safety Committee, shall erect signs indicating no parking upon any
street when the width of the roadway does not exceed 20 feet or upon
one side of a street as indicated by such signs when the width of
the roadway is between 20 and 30 feet.
(b)
The width of the roadway shall be deemed not
to exceed 30 feet or 20 feet, as hereinbefore set forth, if the usable
width thereof is reduced to these measurements by the piling up of
snow by snowplowing operations.
(c)
The Chief of Police is hereby authorized, whenever
the width of the roadway of any street is reduced by snow to the width
as described above, to erect signs as provided above and is also authorized
to make any street temporarily a one-way street when, in his/her judgment,
the usable roadway of said street is reduced by snow to such width
as to make such action advisable.
(15)
The Chief of Police, with approval of the Traffic
Safety Committee, shall determine and designate, by proper signs,
distances not exceeding 100 feet as places where the stopping or parking
of vehicles would create an especially hazardous condition or would
cause unusual delay to traffic.
(16)
Stop signs and speed limit signs.
(a)
The Chief of Police, with approval of the Traffic
Safety Committee, shall determine and designate intersections where
particular hazard exists upon other than through streets; determine
whether vehicles shall stop at one or more entrances to any such intersection;
and erect a stop sign at every such place where a stop is required,
or in the event that the Chief determines that reduced speed rather
than a stop is adequate for safe operation at any such intersection,
he/she shall determine such safe speed by engineering investigation
and erecting signs upon the approaches to such intersection giving
notice of such speed.
(b)
Every such stop shall bear the word "stop" in
letters not less than six inches in height and shall be reflectorized
or self-illuminated. Every stop sign shall be located as near as practicable
to the property line of the street at the entrance to which the stop
must be made or to the nearest line of the crosswalk or, if none,
to a limit line to be indicated by the Chief of Police. The driver
of a vehicle approaching a stop sign shall stop and, after having
stopped, shall yield the right-of-way to any vehicle which has entered
the intersection from another highway or which is approaching so closely
on said highway as to constitute an immediate hazard.
(17)
Yield signs.
(a)
The Chief of Police, with approval of the Traffic
Safety Committee, shall determine and designate intersections where
traffic conditions require some type of traffic control but where
traffic volumes, both vehicular and pedestrian, and other factors
indicate that neither traffic signals nor stop signs are warranted
and erect at every such place a sign stating "yield right-of-way."
(b)
Every such "yield right-of-way" sign shall conform
in design and color to specifications adopted by the State Highway
Department of the State of Maine. Every such sign shall be reflectorized
to provide good visibility after dark.
(c)
The driver of a vehicle approaching a "yield
right-of-way" sign shall slow to the legal speed for such intersection,
yielding the right-of-way to all traffic on the intersecting street
which is so close as to constitute an immediate hazard.
(18)
When, in his/her best judgment, an emergency
exists or is about to exist because of snow, ice or other cause which
will create an especially hazardous condition, notwithstanding any
other provisions of this chapter, the Police Chief shall determine
and designate, by proper emergency signs, streets or portions of streets
on which no stopping or parking of vehicles may be permitted and shall
also determine and designate, by proper emergency signs, streets or
portions of streets on which no vehicular traffic may be permitted
or on which vehicular traffic may move only in one direction.
B.
Notwithstanding the above, any member of the Council
attending the Traffic Safety Committee meeting may require any action
taken under this section to be reviewed and approved by the Council
as a whole.
[Amended 3-15-2004]
Whenever any time limit parking is imposed,
except when specifically exempted, and wherever a one-way street is
established, the Chief of Police shall cause to be erected appropriate
signs giving notice thereof, and no such regulations shall be effective
until and unless the signs are erected.
The Police Chief may place appropriate signs
establishing temporary rules regulating traffic for purposes of trial
or experiment. Such temporary rules shall become effective immediately
upon the placing of the signs and shall continue for a period of not
more than 90 days.
[Added 5-3-2004]
A.
The application fee for any special event considered
by the Traffic Safety Committee shall be established by the City Council
after a public hearing.
B.
The application fee for any neighborhood block party
considered by the Traffic Safety Officer shall be established by the
City Council after a public hearing.
