(A) Traffic control devices shall conform to manual.
(1) All traffic control devices including signs, signals and pavement or curb markings installed or used for the purpose of directing and controlling traffic within the city shall conform with the Texas Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways, which is published by the State Department of Highways and Public Transportation.
(2) All signs, signals and markings erected or used by the city shall be uniform and be located so far as practicable according to the directions shown in the manual. All existing traffic control devices and those erected in the future by the city being consistent with the manual, state law and this chapter, shall be official traffic control devices.
(B) Unauthorized traffic control devices.
(1) 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 which attempts to direct the movement of traffic, or which hides from view or interferes with the effectiveness of any official traffic control device.
(2) 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.
(3) Every such prohibited sign, signal or marking is hereby declared to be a public nuisance, and the City Manager is hereby empowered to remove the same or cause it to be moved without notice.
(4) This division 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, when erected in accordance with city sign regulations.
(C) Unlawful to tamper with traffic control devices or street name signs. 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 street name sign, or any part thereof.
(D) Authorization and installation of traffic control devices.
(1) The City Council shall, by ordinance, direct the location of all traffic control signs, signals and markings as provided for herein.
(2) The City Manager 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 the ordinances or cause the same to be erected, installed or placed in accordance with this chapter and consistent with the manual on uniform traffic control devices.
(3) The traffic control devices shall be installed immediately upon authorization by the City Council, or as soon as the specific device, sign or signal can be procured.
(E) Prima facie evidence of authorized installation. It being unlawful for any person other than the City Manager 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 City Manager pursuant to the authority of this chapter and of the ordinance directing the installation of the device, signal or marking.
(F) Duty to obey traffic control device. 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 law enforcement officer, subject to the exceptions granted the driver of an authorized emergency vehicle as provided for in the state motor vehicle laws.
(G) Emergency installation of traffic control devices. The City Manager is hereby empowered to install or erect or cause to be installed or erected temporary traffic control devices to protect the public in case of emergencies and special situations.
(H) Turns. The City Council may, by ordinance, authorize the erection or placement of signs or markings prohibiting, requiring, or regulating right, left or U-turns. A person commits an offense if he or she disregards or disobeys a sign prohibiting, requiring or regulating a right, left or U-turn.
(I) One-way streets and alleys. The City Council may designate, by ordinance, any street or alley for movement of vehicular traffic in only one direction. Upon the designation, the City Manager shall supervise the placement and maintenance of signs giving notice thereof, and no such regulation shall be effective unless the signs are in place. A person commits an offense if he or she operates a motor vehicle on a one-way street or alley in any direction other than that designated by the signs.
(J) Stop and yield intersections. The City Council may designate, by ordinance, any street intersection as a stop intersection and designate the streets upon which vehicles shall stop before entering the intersections. In addition, the City Council may designate, by ordinance, that traffic on any street shall yield to traffic on an intersecting street. Whenever any intersection has been so designated, the City Manager shall supervise the erection and maintenance of stop signs or yield signs as specified by city ordinance.
(K) Traffic lights. The City Council may designate, by ordinance, intersections at which traffic shall be controlled by electronic traffic control lights or signals. Whenever any intersection has been so designated, the City Manager shall supervise the erection and maintenance of traffic control signals or lights as specified by the City Council.
(L) Ratification of existing traffic control devices. 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 vehicles or pedestrian traffic are hereby affirmed, ratified and declared to be official traffic control devices, provided the traffic control devices are not inconsistent with the provisions of this chapter or state law.
(1989 Code, Ch. 9, § 2) Penalty, see § 10.99