A. City personnel or contractors, while repairing or improving the streets of the city, and city personnel and utility companies, when installing, improving, or repairing lines or other utility facilities in the streets, are hereby authorized as necessary, subject to control by the city or the public utilities authority, to close any street or section thereof to traffic during such repair, maintenance, or construction. In exercising this authority, the appropriate personnel, contractor or utility company shall erect or cause to be erected proper control devices and barricades to warn and notify the public that the street has been closed to traffic. (Prior code ch. 20)
B. When any street has been closed to traffic under the provisions of subsection A of this section and traffic control devices or barricades have been erected, it is unlawful for any person to drive any vehicle through, under, over, or around such traffic control devices or barricades, or otherwise to enter the closed area. The provisions of this subsection shall not apply to persons while engaged in the construction, maintenance and repair of highways, or to persons entering the closed area or zone for the protection of lives or property. Persons having their places of residence or places of business within the closed area may travel, when possible to do so, through the area at their own risk.
C. Whenever construction, repair, or maintenance of any street or utility line or facility is being performed under traffic, the city personnel, contractor, or utility company concerned shall erect, or cause to be erected, traffic control devices to warn and guide the public. Every person using the street shall obey all signs, signals, markings, flagpersons, or other traffic control devices which are placed to regulate, control, and guide traffic through the construction or maintenance area. As used in this subsection, "construction or maintenance area" means any area upon or around any highway that is visibly marked as an area where construction, repair, and maintenance is temporarily occurring. The construction or maintenance area also includes the lanes of highway leading up to the area upon which an activity described in this section is being performed, beginning at the point where properly posted traffic control devices start to warn and guide the public into and through the construction or maintenance including, but not limited to, instructions to merge from one lane into another lane, to reduce speed, or to follow directions of flagmen.
D. The "merge now" traffic control device that is used to warn and guide the public using the highway to merge, shall be located no greater than one mile nor less than one thousand five hundred feet (1,500') in advance of the highway construction or maintenance area. Whenever any traffic control device requires traffic to merge due to the closure of a section or lane of highway, the merge shall be completed:
1. As soon as practicable after passing the traffic control device; and
2. Without passing any other traffic proceeding in the same direction.
E. No person shall remove, change, modify, deface or alter any traffic control device or barricade which has been erected on any highway under the provisions of this section.
F. Nothing in this section shall relieve the city or its contractors, agents, servants or employees from liability for failure to perform any of the duties imposed herein.
G. Any person who violates any provision of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be subject to a fine of not less than one hundred dollars ($100.00) nor more than one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) or imprisonment in jail not to exceed thirty (30) days, or both such fine and imprisonment, and shall be liable for any damage to property, or injury to or death to persons caused by the violations. In addition, the court may order restitution in an amount equal to the actual costs of the emergency response and repair or replacement of any damaged or lost emergency equipment. (Prior code ch. 20; amd. 2015 Code)