There is hereby established a Traffic Safety Commission consisting
of the Chief of Police, or his/her designee, the Chief of the Fire
Department, or his/her designee, the Director of Public Works, or
his/her designee, a Town Council member to be appointed by the Town
Council President and one additional member appointed by the Town
Council. The Chair of the Traffic Safety Commission shall be elected
annually, or as needed, by the members of said Commission. The Traffic
Safety Commission shall have full authority to perform and carry out
the following duties:
A. Collect and analyze all traffic, physical and economic data necessary
to measure existing, and to estimate future, street and highway needs
and make recommendations thereon; and
B. Establish rules and regulations governing the use of public highways
by vehicles and pedestrians within the limits established by state
law, including but not to the exclusion of other regulatory powers
conferred, the installation of traffic control devices, designation
of throughways and stop streets, of curb parking zones and the manner
of their use, including crosswalks, safety zones and streets at which
drivers shall not make right or left turns and the speed of vehicles.
All existing laws, ordinances, rules and regulations governing
the regulation and control of traffic, including parking, shall remain
in full force and effect until changed by the Traffic Safety Commission.
Any regulations promulgated pursuant to the terms of this chapter
shall be published at least once in a newspaper which is published
within the Town of Smithfield. Said regulations shall also be made
available to the public on the Town's website, and the Town Clerk
shall have printed copies thereof available for distribution to the
public.