(A)
Any
person who undertakes to perform any work upon, in, under, above or
about any public street, highway, roadway, alley or sidewalk, hereinafter
collectively called public right-of-way, which requires that the street
be partially or completely closed for construction maintenance operation
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 workmen 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 “Texas
Manual on Uniform Traffic-Control Devices for Streets and Highways,
part VI, Traffic-Controls for Street and Highway Construction and
Maintenance Operations,” as it is currently written or is subsequently
amended. Part VI of the manual is incorporated by reference for all
purposes. Such persons shall also be required to obtain a permit from
the Director of Transportation if the specifications stated in section
3, B-1-3, are applicable, with the exception of the state department
of highways and public transportation conducting work on any state-designated
system. In such cases, no permit is required. This permit must be
required before construction is begun. Purpose of the permit is to
ensure that ample consideration has been given to the effect of said
construction work on the flow of traffic.
(B)
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 Director of Transportation. All such signs, devices and barricades
should be in good condition, clean and legible and shall be of the
type required by the “Texas Manual on Uniform Traffic-Control
Devices;” provided, that the Director of Transportation may
authorize the use of different or special devices and equipment if,
in his opinion, such equipment will be at least as effective for its
intended purpose as that set forth for such purpose in the “Texas
Manual on Uniform Traffic-Control Devices.” When additional
regulatory signs are deemed necessary by the Director of Transportation,
such signing will be installed as directed by the Transportation Department
along with such regulatory signs as are required to be provided by
the City as required by the manual.
In this article the following words and terms shall have the
meanings respectively ascribed them in this section:
means the City of Garland.
means any person or group of persons entering into an agreement
to perform work.
means an alternate route in which vehicular traffic is directed
around a street which is closed.
means the Director of the Transportation Department of the
City or his or her duly appointed representative.
means an unforeseen combination of circumstances, or the
resulting state, that calls for immediate action.
means the “Texas Manual on Uniform Traffic-Control
Devices for Streets and Highways, Part VI, Traffic-Controls for Street
and Highway Construction and Maintenance Operations.”
means a written approval from the Director of Transportation
or his or her appointed representative.
means any public street, highway, roadway, alley, or sidewalk.
The word “shall” is a mandatory condition; the
word “should” is an advisory condition to ensure safe
operation conditions; and the word “may” is a permissive
condition.
means a traveled way for vehicular traffic, whether designated
as a street, highway, thoroughfare, parkway, throughway, road, avenue,
boulevard, lane, place or however otherwise designated. Specific types
of public rights-of-way are as follows:
Major thoroughfares or arterial streets are 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 thoroughfare
plan.
Collector streets are 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.
Minor streets are those which are used primarily for access
to abutting residential properties which are intended to serve traffic
within a limited residential district.
Alleys are minor traveled ways which are used primarily for
vehicular service access to the back or the side of properties otherwise
abutting on a street.
(A)
Permit
required.
The following provisions shall apply to permits
required by this article:
(1)
Application.
When a permit is required, the permit application
shall, unless otherwise authorized by the Director of Transportation
for good cause shown, be filed with the Director of Transportation
at least two (2) business 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 numbers 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 information 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.
(g)
Any other information deemed necessary by the Director of Transportation.
(2)
Approval or disapproval.
The Director of Transportation shall either approve or disapprove the application in two (2) business days after it is submitted. The Director of Transportation may approve an application either as applied for or subject to special requirements, as provided in subsection (3) below, which special requirements shall be endorsed on the permit when issued and become a part thereof. If an application is not approved, the Director of Transportation 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 Director of Transportation who shall approve, approve subject to special requirements, or disapprove the amended application within two (2) business days. The director of transportation may disapprove applications for permits under this article 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 article
or, except for good cause shown, to file the application within the
time prescribed by this article.
(e)
Misrepresenting or falsifying any information in the application.
(3)
Special requirements.
The Director of Transportation
may, at the time he approves an application or anytime 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.
(e)
That all equipment be moved from the traffic lanes and any excavation
in the traffic lanes be covered with steel plates 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.
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When such requirements are deemed necessary by the Director
of Transportation 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 thereof.
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(4)
Revocation.
The Director of Transportation may revoke
a permit issue hereunder if any of the permit holder’s barricading,
signing, channelizing, warning or other traffic-control procedures
or the equipment at the work site does not comply with the requirements
of the manual, or with any special requirements imposed by the Director
of Transportation. 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 Director of Transportation and not
to exceed twenty-four (24) hours, to correct same before such permit
is revoked. In the event a permit issued under this article is revoked,
it shall be unlawful to continue to block the roadway, except to restore
the site to its proper condition as required herein.
(5)
Restoration.
In the event 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 twenty-four (24) hours. In addition, except as required to
restore the work area to its proper condition, the permit holder shall
remove all equipment, men, material and debris from the roadway. In
the event 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, and 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 said work.
(B)
Persons
requiring permits.
The following provisions shall apply
to persons required to have permits under this article:
(1)
Contractor’s requirements.
(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
or complex nature of the work, will be subject to the provisions set
forth in this subsection and must apply for a permit before beginning
construction.
(b)
A plan must be prepared by the contracting agency showing where work
is to be performed. The plan will include a detailed 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 Director of Transportation.
(c)
The plan as mentioned in subsection (1)(b) above must be submitted
a minimum of two (2) business days prior to actual beginning of the
construction work to allow the Transportation Department the opportunity
to survey the construction site to determine 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 and telephone listing at which
said person can be reached at any hour of the day if a hazardous condition
develops.
(e)
Issuance of a permit by the Director of Transportation does not replace
the need to obtain any other permits, approvals, bonds, etc., required
by the City, state, etc., for the work to be done.
(2)
Contract work by City-prepared construction plans.
(a)
In the event the contractor undertakes work based on plans prepared
by the City, a set of standard construction signing and barricading
details will be inserted as part of the construction plans.
(b)
A contractor’s agreement to perform work under the construction
plans and specifications shall require him to be responsible for the
proper signing and barricading under the provisions of the project
specifications or as outlined in the manual and is subject to the
penalties established by this ordinance [Ordinance 3458] and the project
specifications. The contractor’s agreement to perform such work
shall be sufficient compliance and not require compliance with subsection
(B)(1) above.
(3)
City forces and public utility company requirements.
(a)
All City forces and 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) above. Such
work would include major street construction (streets, 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 of
minor nature such that a set of plans need not be prepared will not
be subject to the same requirements established in subsection (B)(1)
above. 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. This work shall
not be performed during the peak hour congestion periods of 7:00 a.m.
to 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. on major thoroughfares or
arterial streets, unless approved by the Director of Transportation.
(C)
Emergency
situations.
The requirements as mentioned above are to
be used for all planned construction projects. In the event of an
emergency type situation, notification of work to be done can be made
by telephone directly to the City Police Department, thereby bypassing
the requirements mentioned above. Under these conditions, the contractor
or agency will still be required to follow the basic barricading standards
of the manual.
