All traffic-control devices including signs, signals and markings
(pavement and/or curb) installed or used for the purpose of directing
and controlling traffic within the city shall conform with the manual
and specifications adopted by the state transportation commission
as provided in V.T.C.A., Transportation Code, section 544.001. All
signs, signals and markings erected or used by the city must conform
to the manual and specifications adopted under V.T.C.A., Transportation
Code, section 544.001. All existing traffic-control devices and those
erected in the future by the city being consistent with the manual
and specifications, state law and this section shall be official traffic-control
devices.
(Ordinance 38, sec. 2(A), adopted 9/8/81; 1982 Code, ch. 9, sec. 2(A); Ordinance adopting 2015 Code)
(a)
No person shall place, maintain, or display upon or in view of any
highway, street, or alley, any unauthorized sign, signal, marking,
or device which purports to be or is an imitation of or resembles
an official traffic-control device or railroad sign or signal, or
which attempts to direct the movement of traffic, or which hides from
view or interferes with the effectiveness of any official control
device or any railroad sign or signal.
(b)
No person shall place or maintain nor shall any public authority
permit upon any highway, street, or alley, any traffic sign or signal
bearing thereon any commercial advertising.
(c)
This section shall not be deemed to prohibit the erection upon private
property adjacent to highways, streets, or alleys of signs giving
useful directional information and of a type that cannot be mistaken
for official signs.
(d)
Every such prohibited sign, signal, or marking is hereby declared
to be a public nuisance, and the mayor is hereby empowered to remove
the same or cause it to be moved without notice.
(Ordinance 38, sec. 2(B), adopted 9/8/81; 1982 Code, ch. 9, sec. 2(B))
No person shall, without lawful authority, attempt to or in
fact alter, deface, injure, knock down, or remove any official traffic-control
device, sign, or signal or any inscription, shield, or insignia thereon,
or any street name sign or any part thereof.
(Ordinance 38, sec. 2(C), adopted 9/8/81; 1982 Code, ch. 9, sec. 2(C))
(a)
The city council shall, by ordinance, direct the location of all
traffic-control signs, signals, and markings. The mayor shall have
the duty of erecting or installing upon, over, along, or beside any
highway, street, or alley, signs, signals, and markings, as are necessary
to enforce such ordinances, or causing the same to be erected, installed,
or placed, in accordance with this chapter and consistent with the
manual on uniform traffic-control devices. Said traffic-control devices
shall be installed immediately, or as soon as such specific device,
sign, or signal can be procured.
(b)
Whenever the mayor has erected and installed any official traffic-control
device, sign, signal, or marking at any location in the city, or has
caused the same to be done under his direction, in obedience to this
chapter and the manual on traffic-control devices, he shall thereafter
file a report with the city secretary in writing, stating the type
of traffic-control device, sign, signal, or marking, and when and
where the same was erected and installed. The city secretary shall
file and maintain such report of the mayor among the official papers
of the office of the city secretary and attached to a copy of the
ordinance authorizing the traffic-control device, sign, signal, or
marking.
(Ordinance 38, sec. 2(D), adopted 9/8/81; 1982 Code, ch. 9, sec. 2(D))
It being unlawful for any person other than the mayor, acting
pursuant to an ordinance of the city, to install or cause to be installed
any signal, sign, or device purporting to direct the use of the streets
or the activities on those streets of pedestrians, vehicles, motor
vehicles, or animals, proof, in any prosecution for a violation of
this chapter or any traffic ordinance of the city, that any traffic-control
device, sign, signal, or marking was actually in place on any street
shall constitute prima facie evidence that the same was installed
by the mayor pursuant to the authority of this chapter and of the
ordinance directing the installation of such device, sign, signal,
or marking.
(Ordinance 38, sec. 2(E), adopted 9/8/81; 1982 Code, ch. 9, sec. 2(E))
The driver of any vehicle, motor vehicle, or animal shall obey
the instructions of any official traffic-control device, sign, signal,
or marking applicable thereto placed in accordance with this chapter,
unless otherwise directed by a police officer, subject to the exceptions
granted the driver of an authorized emergency vehicle as provided
for in the Uniform Act Regulating Traffic on Highways.
(Ordinance 38, sec. 2(F), adopted 9/8/81; 1982 Code, ch. 9, sec. 2(F))
All traffic-control signs, signals, devices, and markings placed
or erected prior to the adoption of this code and in use for the purpose
of regulating, warning, or guiding traffic are hereby affirmed, ratified,
and declared to be official traffic-control devices, provided such
traffic-control devices are not inconsistent with the provisions of
this chapter or state law.
(Ordinance 38, sec. 6, adopted 9/8/81; 1982 Code, ch. 9, sec. 6)
