The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this division, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
Contractor.
Any person or group of persons entering into an agreement with the city.
Detour.
An alternate route in which vehicular traffic is directed around a street which is closed.
Emergency.
An unforeseen combination of circumstances, or the resulting state, that calls for immediate action.
Manual.
The Manual on Uniform Barricading Standards.
Permit.
A written letter of approval from the city manager or his appointed representative.
Public right-of-way.
Any public street, highway, roadway, alley or sidewalk.
Streets and alleys.
A traveled way for vehicular traffic, whether designated as a street, highway, thoroughfare, parkway, throughway, road, avenue, boulevard, lane, place, or however otherwise designated.
(1) 
Major thoroughfares or arterial streets.
Principal traffic arteries more or less continuous across the city which are intended to connect remote parts of the city and which are used primarily for fast or heavy volume traffic, and shall include, but not be limited to, each street designated as a major street on the major street plan.
(2) 
Collector streets.
Those which carry traffic from minor streets to the major system of arterial streets and highways, including the principal entrance streets of a residential development and streets for circulation within such a development.
(3) 
Minor streets.
Those which are used primarily for access to abutting residential properties which are intended to serve traffic within a limited residential district.
(4) 
Alleys.
Minor traveled ways which are used primarily for vehicular service access to the back or the side of properties otherwise abutting on a street.
(1999 Code, sec. 78-116)
(a) 
Barricades and warning devices required.
Any person who undertakes to perform any work upon, in, under, above or about any public street, highway, roadway, alley or sidewalk which requires that the street be partially or completely closed for construction and/or maintenance operations, which work shall require excavation within or occupancy of the whole or a portion of the width of any such public right-of-way by equipment, materials, debris or workers, shall use barricades, signals, flags, flares and all other traffic-control and warning devices and procedures about the work area during the duration of the work within the public right-of-way of the type and in the manner required by the Uniform Barricading Standards adopted in this division. Such persons shall also be required to obtain a permit from the city manager if the specifications stated in section 14.02.113(b)(2) and (b)(3) are applicable, with the exception of the state department of transportation conducting work on any state designated system. In such cases no permit is required. This permit must be acquired before construction is begun. The purpose of the permit is to ensure that ample consideration has been given to the effect of such construction work on the flow of traffic.
(b) 
Responsibilities of permit holder.
It shall be the responsibility of the permit holder to provide, erect, place and maintain all warning signs, traffic-control devices and barricades required by the Texas Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices or the city manager. When additional regulatory signs are deemed necessary by the city manager, such signing shall be installed as directed by the police department of the city, along with such regulatory signs as are required to be provided by the city as required by the manual.
(1999 Code, sec. 78-117)
(a) 
Permit procedures; penalty.
(1) 
Application.
When a permit is required, the permit application shall, unless otherwise authorized by the city manager for good cause shown, be filed with the city manager at least five days prior to the day the applicant seeks to first close or block any part of the roadway, and shall contain the following information:
(A) 
The name, telephone number, local address and principal place of business of the applicant;
(B) 
The name and day and night telephone number of the engineer, foreman or other person who will be in charge of the construction or repairs for which the application is requested;
(C) 
The times of the day and total number of calendar days the applicant seeks to block the roadway;
(D) 
A statement signed by the applicant, or a person authorized to bind the applicant, that the applicant will indemnify and forever hold the city harmless against each and every claim, demand or cause of action that may be made or come against it by reason of or in any way arising out of the closing or blocking of the roadway by the applicant under a permit from the city, if such permit is granted;
(E) 
A standard barricading layout showing placement of barricades, cones and informational signs used on the project;
(F) 
An explanation as to the nature or type of work that is to be performed, along with its location; and
(G) 
Any other information deemed necessary by the city manager.
(2) 
Approval or disapproval.
The city manager shall either approve or disapprove the application in five business days after it is submitted. The city manager may approve an application either as applied for or subject to special requirements, as provided in subsection (a)(3) of this section, which special requirements shall be endorsed on the permit when issued and become a part of such permit. If an application is not approved, the city manager shall so notify the applicant, in writing, stating the reasons for disapproval. An applicant may, if he so desires, undertake the revision of the unapproved application and resubmit it to the city manager, who shall approve subject to special requirements or disapprove the amended application within two business days. The city manager may disapprove applications for permits under this division only for the following reasons:
(A) 
The proposed barricading, channelizing, signing, warning or other traffic-control procedures or the equipment therefor do not comply with the requirements of the manual;
(B) 
The nature of the work to be performed or its location is such that the work may, without imposing any undue hardship on the applicant, be performed without the necessity of blocking or closing the roadway;
(C) 
The work or the manner in which it is to be performed will violate a city ordinance or a state statute;
(D) 
Failure to furnish all of the information required by this division or, except for good cause shown, to file the application within the time prescribed by this division; and/or
(E) 
Misrepresenting or falsifying any information in the application.
(3) 
Special requirements.
The city manager may, at the time he approves an application or any time after a permit is issued, require:
(A) 
The use or specific location of additional barricades, signals, signs or other traffic-control or safety devices, or the pursuance of special traffic-control or safety procedures;
(B) 
That the work be performed only at certain hours during the day or night, or during specified days of the week;
(C) 
That only a specified area or not more than a specified number of lanes shall be blocked at the same time or at specified times of the day;
(D) 
That materials and equipment used in the work site and dirt removed from any excavation be located other than in the vehicle traffic lanes of such roadway; and/or
(E) 
That all equipment be moved from the traffic lanes and any excavation in the traffic lanes be covered or filled with materials of sufficient strength and construction to permit vehicular traffic to pass over such excavation during all or part of the peak traffic periods or at night.
When such requirements are deemed necessary by the city manager in the interest of public safety and to avoid traffic congestion, any such special requirements shall be endorsed on the permit and shall be a part of such permit.
(4) 
Revocation.
Any designated responsible person or his authorized representatives may revoke a permit issued under this division if any of the permit holder's barricading, signing, channelizing, warning or other traffic-control procedures or the equipment at the work site do not comply with the requirements of the manual, or with any special requirements imposed by the city manager. The permit holder, or the person named as responsible for or in charge of the work in the permit, shall first be notified of the failure or defect and be given a reasonable time, such length of time to be determined by the city manager and not to exceed 24 hours, to correct the same before such permit is revoked. If a permit issued under this division is revoked, it shall be unlawful to continue to block the roadway, except to restore the site to its proper condition as required in subsection (a)(5) of this section.
(5) 
Restoration of site after revocation.
If a permit is revoked, the permit holder shall immediately commence operations to restore the work area within the roadway to its proper condition, such work to be completed within 24 hours. In addition, except as required to restore the work area to its proper condition, the permit holder shall remove all equipment, personnel, materials and debris from the roadway. If such restoration is not done, the city shall be authorized, at its election, to take charge of the work and restore the premises to its proper condition, and shall be entitled to recover from the permit holder by civil action the actual expenses incurred by the city in restoring the premises, including, but not limited to, cost of labor, materials, overhead, rental of any equipment used by the city in restoring the site and attorney's fees. For such purposes, the city shall have a right of action against any bonds in effect running from the holder of the permit to the city, conditioned upon compliance with the ordinances of the city in the performance of such work.
(6) 
Penalty.
Any person who violates any provision of this division shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be subject to a fine not to exceed $500.00. Each day of such violation shall constitute a separate offense. Such penalty shall be cumulative and not exclusive of any other rights or remedies the city may have.
(b) 
Persons requiring permit; specific requirements.
(1) 
Contractors preparing own plans.
(A) 
Any contractor undertaking any work, whether of his own or under contract for any other person, and such work is within a city street and requires that a set of plans be drawn up due to the extensive and/or complex nature of the work, will be subject to the provisions set forth in subsection (b)(1) of this section, and must file for a permit before beginning construction. Proof must also be shown that he has obtained approval by other affected agencies of the city to actually perform the work.
(B) 
A plan must be prepared by the contracting agency showing where work is to be performed. The plan will include a standard barricading layout showing placement of barricades, cones and informational signs used on the project. In most cases, layouts will be similar to those shown in the latter part of the manual. Deviation from the manual will be allowed only with approval of the city manager or his appointed representative.
(C) 
The plan as mentioned in subsection (b)(1)(B) of this section must be submitted a minimum of five business days prior to the actual beginning of the construction work. This time period will allow the police department of the city the opportunity to survey the construction site in an attempt to uncover any traffic problems which might develop as a result of the barricading.
(D) 
Each contractor or construction agency will provide with his barricading plan a listing of all persons directly responsible for the safety on each project, to include an address or a telephone listing at which such person can be reached at any hour of the day if a hazardous condition develops.
(2) 
Contract work using city-prepared construction plans.
If the contractor undertakes work based on plans prepared by the designated department, all detour and barricading requirements shall be inserted as part of the construction plans. In this situation, the contractor's acceptance of the construction project will serve as indication that he understands the layout and is responsible, subject to the penalties established in the manual.
(3) 
City forces and public utility companies.
(A) 
All city forces, as well as public utility companies, performing construction work within a street which requires that a set of plans be drawn up due to the extensive and/or complex nature of work will be subject to the same requirements established in subsection (b)(1) of this section. Such work would include major street construction (street cuts, street widening, etc.), water and sewerage line laying or relocation, or off-street construction which requires that a portion of the adjacent roadway be barricaded.
(B) 
Construction work performed by city forces or utility companies, minor enough such that a set of plans need not be drawn up, will not be subject to the same requirements established in subsection (b)(1) of this section. Such work includes minor street construction (resurfacing, patching, striping), minor utility work (usage of manholes such that a lane must be barricaded), etc. These forces will be required, however, to comply with all other provisions set forth in the manual as to the construction site barricade layout and signing. In addition, the city manager or his authorized representative shall be contacted before such construction work is begun and be informed of the location and nature of construction. This work shall not be performed during the peak hour congestion periods of 7:00 to 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 to 6:00 p.m., unless approved by the city manager.
(1999 Code, sec. 78-118)