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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 4750 r ORDINANCE NO. p AN ORDINANCE REGULATING THE OPERATION OF COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLES ON THE PUBLIC STREETS; DEFINING TERMS; REQUIRING COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLES IN INTER-CITY TRAVEL TO BE OPERATED ONLY ON TRUCK ROUTES; REQUIRING COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLES WITH POINT OF ORIGIN OR DES- TINATION INSIDE THE CITY TO BE OPERATED ONLY ON TRUCK ROUTES OR COMMERCIAL DELIVERY ROUTES; PROVIDING EXCEPTIONS; DESIGNATING CERTAIN STREETS AS TRUCK ROUTES OR COMMERCIAL DELIVERY ROUTES; AUTHORIZING THE TRAFFIC ENGINEER TO ERECT APPROPRIATE MARKERS AND TO DESIGNATE TEMPORARY ROUTES; PROVIDING A MAXIMUM WIDTH, HEIGHT, LENGTH, GROSS WEIGHT, SINGLE AXLE LOAD AND TANDEM AXLE LOAD FOR COMMERCIAL MOTOR VEHICLES; PROVIDING A MAXIMUM TANDEM AXLE LOAD, SINGLE AXLE LOAD AND GROSS LOAD FOR VEHICLES USED EXCLUSIVELY TO TRANSPORT READY-NIX CONCRETE; EXEMPTING VEHICLES BEING OPERATED UNDER STATE PERMIT, EMERGENCY VEHICLES, AND VEHICLES OPERATED IN THE CONSTRUCTION OR MAINTENANCE OF ANY PUBLIC UTILITY; PROVIDING FOR SPECIAL PERMITS; REQUIRING A BOND; SETTING FEES; PROHIBITING THE DROPPING OF ANY VEHICLE CARGO ONTO THE PUBLIC STREETS; PRO- VIDING PENALTIES; MAKING THIS ORDINANCE CUMULATIVE OF PRIOR ORDINANCES; REPEALING CONFLICTING ORDINANCES; PROVIDING A SEVER- ABILITY CLAUSE; DECLARING THE ENFORCEMENT HEREOF TO BE GOVERN- MENTAL; DIRECTING PUBLICATION IN PAMPHLET FORM; PROVIDING FOR INJUNCTIONS; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH, TEXAS: SECTION 1. DEFINITIONS. The followia;g words and phrases, when used in this Ordinance, shall for the purpose of this Ordinance, have the meanings respectively ascribed to them in this section as follows: "Vehicle," Every mechanical device, in, upon, or by which any person or property is or may be transported or drawn upon a public highway, including motor vehicles, commercial motor vehicles, truck-tractors, trailers, and semi- trailers, severally, as hereinafter defined, but excepting devices moved by human power or used exclusively upon stationary rails or tracks. "Motor Vehicle." Every vehicle, as herein defined, which is self-propelled. "Commercial Motor Vehicle." Any motor vehicle designed or used for the transportation of property, not including a passenger bus, passenger automobile, motorcycle, panel delivery truck or pickup truck. "Truck-Tractars." Every motor vehicle designed or used primarily for drawing other vehicles and not so constructed as to carry a load other than a part of the weight of the vehicle and load so drawn. "Trailer." Every vehicle without motive power designed or used for carrying property or passengers wholly on its own structure and to be drawn by a motor vehicle. -I- "Semi-Trailer." Every vehicle of the trailer type so designed or used in conjunction with a motor vehicle that some part of its own weight and that of its own load rests upon or is carried by another motor vehicle. "Mobile Home." A living quarters equipped and used for sleeping and eating which may be moved from one location to another over a public street by being pulled behind a motor vehicle. "Pole Trailer." Every vehicle without motive power designed to be drawn by another vehicle and attached to the towing vehicle by means of a reach, or pole, or by being boomed, or otherwise secured to the towing vehicle, and ordinarily used for transporting long or irregularly shaped loads such as poles, pipes, or structural members capable, generally, of sustaining themselves as beams between the supporting connections. SECTION 2. No person shall operate or cause to be operated any commercial motor vehicle, truck-tractor, trailer, semi trailer, or any combination thereof through the City of Fort Worth in inter-city travel, without a local destination or point of origin, except upon such streets as are designated as Truck Routes by this ordinance. SECTION 3- A. Except as otherwise provided herein, no person shall operate or cause to be operated upon any public street within the corporate limits of the City of Fort Worth any commercial motor vehicle, truck-tractor, trailer, semi-trailer or any combination thereof except on such street or streets as are designated as either Truck Routes or Commercial Delivery Routes by this ordinance; such vehicles shall be operated on a Truck Route wherever reasonably practicable; they shall be operated on a Commercial Delivery Route only when it is not reason- ably practicable to use a Truck Route to fulfill the purpose for which such vehicle is then being operated. B. EXCEPTIONS The provisions of this section shall not apply: (1) to a vehicle traveling to or from a truck terminal, garage, place of repair, place of performing a service, or a place of loading or unloading, over the shortest practicable route to a point on a Truck Route or Commercial -2- Delivery Route; any such vehicle shall be permitted to proceed from one such point not on a Truck Route or Commercial Delivery Route to another such point without returning to a Truck Route or a Commercial Delivery Route if to so return would unreasonably increase the distance to be traveled between such points; the operators of any such vehicles shall carry evidence of the loca- tion of its last stop and of its immediate destination in order for this exception to apply; (2) to emergency vehicles operating in response to any emergency call; (3) to vehicles operated by a public utility while cruising in an assigned area for the purpose of inspecting the facilities of said public utility and/or providing maintenance service to said facilities. SECTION 4. A. The following streets and parts of streets are designated "Truck Routes" under this ordinance: NAME CF STREET LIMITS Belknap Henderson to Beach Street Camp Bowie West Freeway to Southwest Loop North Freeway South Freeway West Freeway Granbury Road Southwest Loop to City Limits Handley Drive Lancaster to Highway 303 Hwy. 80 Camp Bowie west to City Limits Hwy. 81 28th Street north to City Limits F.M. 156 Hwy. 81 east and north to City Limits Hwy. 183 Southwest Loop north to City Limits Hwy. 183 City Limits west of Jacksboro Hwy. to Beach Street Hwy. 199 West Freeway north to City Limits Hwy.303 Handley Drive east to City Limits Hwy. 377 Southwest Loop south to City Limits F.M. 731 Southwest Loop south to City Limits Lancaster Henderson east to City Limits Mansfield Hwy. Berry south to City Limits North Main North Side Drive to 28th Street North Side Drive North Main to North Freeway $iverside Drive Berry to Sylvania Southwest Loop Camp Bowie to South Freeway Southeast Loop Mansfield Hwy. to South Freeway Sylvania Riverside Drive to 28th Street Turnpike Weatherford Henderson to North Freeway B. The following streets and parts of streets are designated as "Commercial Delivery Routes" under this ordinance: NAME OF STREET LIMITS Azle 25th Street to City Limits Beach Mitchell north to City Limits -3- NAME OF STREET LIMITS Berry (and Berry North) University Drive east to Village Creek Berry South Berry North to Mitchell Bluff Jones to Houston Calhoun Bluff to Lancaster Camp Bowie West Freeway to University Decatur Terminal Road to 23rd Street Deen Road Terminal Road to 28th Street Eighth Avenue Old Cleburne Road to Pennsylvania Felix Hemphill to South Freeway East First Riverside east to City Limits Forest Park Rosedale to West Freeway Galvez Riverside to Beach Granbury Benbrook to Trail Lake Drive Granbury Trail Lake Drive to Southwest Loop Hemphill Vickery to Felix Henderson West Freeway to Pennsylvania Horne Roaring Springs Road to Vickery Jennings Lancaster to Vickery Jones Lancaster to Bluff West Lancaster Montgomery to Henderson McCart Old Cleburne Road to Seminary Magnolia Avenue EighthAvenue to South Main Main Street and South Main Lancaster to Morningside Drive North Main Bluff to North Side Drive Martin Miller to Parker-Henderson Miller and Oakland City Limits north of Turnpike south to Martin Mitchell Rosedale to Wichita Montgomery Camp Bowie to Vickery Morningside Drive Hemphill to South Freeway North Side Drive Jacksboro Hwy. to North Main Street Old Cleburne Road McCart to 8th Avenue Parker-Henderson Martin to Mansfield Hwy. Penn Street West 7th Street to Weatherford Pennsylvania Eighth Avenue to Hemphill Riverside Drive Belknap to Sylvania Roaring Springs Road Horne north to City Limits Roberts Cut-Off White Settlement north to City Limits Rosedale Forest Park Blvd, to Handley Samuels North Side Drive to 23rd Street Seminary Old Granbury Road to Wichita West Seventh University to Henderson Summit Pennsylvania to West 7th Street Sylvania 28th Street north to City Limits Tennessee Vickery to Lancaster Terminal F.M. Hwy. 156 to Deen Road East Third to East Fourth Calhoun to Riverside 33rd (Long) Jacksboro Hwy. to Deen Road Trail Lake Granbury West to Granbury East Twenty-Fifth Street Azle to North Main Twenty-Third Street North Main to Decatur University Drive Jacksboro to Old Granbury Vickery Beach Street west to City Limits Weatherford Henderson to Penn Street White Settlement Jacksboro Hwy. west to City Limits Wichita Mitchell to Mansfield Hwy. Wilbarger Wichita to Miller C. The Traffic Engineer shall erect appropriate signs and markings to desig- nate the Truck Routes and Commercial Delivery Routes described herein. D. Whenever any street designated as a Truck Route or Commercial Delivery Route is being repaired or is otherwise temporarily out of use, the Traffic -4— Engineer is hereby authorized to designate alternate Truck Routes and Commercial Delivery Routes for such period as might be necessary. SECTION 5- A. Except as otherwise provided herein, it shall be unlawful and a viola- tion of this Ordinance for any person to drive, operate or Mve, and/or to cause or permit to be driven, operated or moved, on any public street within the corporate limits of the City of Fort Worth, any commercial motor vehicle with or without load, contrary to any of the regulations contained in this section. B. (1) No commercial motor vehicle shall exceed a total outside width, indluding any load thereon, of ninety-six inches (96"), except that the width of a farm tractor shall not exceed niM feet (91) and that the limitations as to size of a vehicle stated in this section shall not apply to implements of hus- bandry, machinery used solely for the purpose of drilling water wells, or to highway or street building or maintenance machinery owned or operated by or on behalf of the State of Texas or any of its political subdivisions or the City of Fort Worth. (2) No commercial motor vehicle unladen or with load shall exceed a height of thirteen feet, six inches (13' 6") including load. (3) No commercial motor vehicle, truck-tractor, trailer or semi-trailer, except pole trailers, shall exceed a length of thirty-five (35) feet except when such vehicle is operated in combination and coupled to another such vehicle, and when operated in combination no such combination of vehicles coupled together shall exceed a total length of fifty feet (50'); provided, however, that the provisions of this subsection shall not apply to any disabled vehicle being towed by another vehicle to an intake place for repairs; and provided further, that the above limitations shall not apply to any mobile home or to any combina- tion of a mobile home and a motor vehicle, but no mobile home and motor vehicle a combination shall exceed a total length of fifty-five feet (4) No vehicle or combination of vehicles, except pole trailers, shall carry any load extending more than three feet (3') beyond the front thereof, nor more than four feet (41) beyond the rear thereof. C. No commercial motor vehicle, truck-tractor, trailer, semi-trailer nor combination of such vehicles shall be operated or caused or permitted to be -5- operated upon any public street within the corporate limits of the City of Fort Worth having a weight in excess of any one or more of the following limi- tations: (1) In no event shall the total gross weight, with load, of any vehicle or combination of vehicles, exceed seventy-two thousand (72,000) pounds. (2) ho axle shall carry a load in excess of eighteen thousand (18,000) pounds. An axle load shall be defined as the total load transmitted to the road by all wheels whose centers may be included between two (2) parallel trans- verse vertical planes forty inches (40") apart, extending across the full width of the vehicle. (3) The total gross weight concentrated on the highway surface from any tandem axle group shall not exceed thirty-two thousand (32,000) pounds for each such tandem axle group. Tandem axle group is defined to be two (2) or more axles spaced forty inches (40") or more apart from center to center having at least one (1) common point of weight suspension. (4) Vehicles used exlusively to transport ready-mix concrete may be operated upon the public streets of the City of Fort Worth with a tandem axle load not to exceed thirty-six thousand (36,000) pounds, a single axle load not to exceed twelve thousand (12,000) pounds and a gross load not to exceed forty- eight thousand (48,000) pounds. D. The provisions of this section shall not apply to: (1) Any person operating or causing to be operated a motor vehicle under a valid and subsisting permit for the operation of overweight or over- size equipment for the transportation of such commodities as cannot be reasonably dismantled issued by the State Highway Department under the provisions of Article 6701a of the Revised Civil Statutes of Texas as said article now exists or right from time to time be amended; (2) Emergency vehicles operating in response to any emergency call; (3) Vehicles operated for the purpose of constructing or maintaining any public utility in the City of Fort Worth. E. (1) Upon written application timely made by any person or corporation which desires to operate or cause to be operated on the public streets within the corporate limits of the City of Fort Worth, Texas, overweight or oversize -6- equipment for the transportation of such commodities as cannot be reasonably dismantled, where the total gross weight or size of the vehicle and its load exceed the limits allowed by this section, the Police Department, after con- sulting with.the Public Works Department, shall issue a permit for the opera- tion of such equipment or fleets of equipment for a specified period of time, over a route or routes to be designated by the Public Works Department, if such routes can be determined at the time application for the permit is made. (2) The application for the permit provided for in this section shall be in writing and contain the following: (a) The kind of equipment to be operated, with a complete discription of same and a statement as to its weight. (b) The kind of commodity to be transported and a certificate as to its weight. (c) The street or streets over which the said equipment is to be operated, and the date or dates and the approximate time of said operation, and the number of trips to be made, except when the nature, route, time or frequency of opera- tion cannot be determined at the time the permit is issued. (d) The application shall be dated and signed by the applicant. (3) Before a permit is issued under this section, the applicant for same shall file with the Public Works Department a bond in an amount to be set and approved by the Public Works Department. The amount of such bond shall not exceed the product of the number of vehicles for which a permit is sought multiplied by Ten Thousand and no/100 Dollars ($10,000.00), said bond shall be payable to the City of Fort Worth and conditioned that the applicant will pay to the City of Fort Worth the sum of money necessary to repair any damage which might be occasioned to any public street or publicly-owned fixture appurtenant to such street by virtue of operation of any commercial vehicle under said permit. Venue of any suit for recovery upon said bond shall be in Tarrant County, Texas, and any bond issued hereunder shall contain an unambiguous contractual provision to that effect. (4) A fee shall be charged for each permit as follows: $5.00 for single trip permits $10.00 for periods not exceeding 30 days. $15.00 for periods not exceeding 60 days. -7- $20.00 for periods not exceeding 90 days. $50.00 for periods not exceeding 1 year. The proper fee shall accompany each application for permit and shall be made in cash or by cashier or certified check or postal money order. The fee shall be returned if the application is denied. (5) Any permit issued hereunder shall include at least the following: (a) The name of the applicant, the date, a description of the equipment to be operated and a description of the commodity to be transported. (b) The signature of an authorized member of the Police Department and the Public Works Department. (c) The time for which the permit is issued. (d) The specified street or streets over which the equip- ment is to be operated, in so far as it can be determined at the time the permit is issued. SECTION 6. It shall be unlawful for any person to operate or cause to be operated any commercial motor vehicle on a public street of the City of Fort Worth in such manner as to permit any portion of its cargo, either liquid or solid, to fall out of, spill from, or blow out of such vehicle. SECTION 7. Any person, firm, corporation or any agent or employee thereof who violates any of the provisions of this ordinance shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not to exceed Two Hundred and no/100 Dollars ($200.00) for each offense. Each day that a violation is permitted to exist shall constitute a separate offense. SECTION 8. This Ordinance shall be and is hereby declared to be cumulative of all other ordinances of the City of Fort Worth providing for the regulation of motor vehicles upon the public streets, and this ordinance shall not operate to repeal or affect any of such other ordinances except insofar as the provisions thereof might be inconsistent or in conflict with the provisions of this ordinance, in which event such conflicting provisions, if any, in such other ordinance or ordinances are -8- hereby repealed. SECTION 9. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase of this ordinance is for any reason held to be unconstitutional, such holding shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance, and all of the remainder of this ordinance not so held to be unconstitutional shall continue to be in full force and effect. SECTION 10. All of the regulations provided in this ordinance are hereby declared to be governmental and for the health, safety and welfare of the general public. Any member of the City Council, any City official or employee charged with the enforcement of this ordinance, acting for the City of Fort Worth in the discharge of his duties, shall not thereby render himself personally liable, and he is hereby relieved from all personal liability, for any damage that might accrue to persons or property as a result of any act required or permitted in the discharge of his said duties. SECTION 11. The City Secretary of the City of Fort Worth is hereby directed to publish this ordinance in pamphlet form for general distribution among the public, and this ordinance as so published shall be admissible in evidence in all Courts without further proof than the production of said pamphlet, as provided in Section 3, Chapter XXVI of the Charter of the City of Fort Worth. SECTION 12. Any violation of this ordinance can be enjoined by a suit filed in the name of the City of Fort Worth in a court of competent ,jurisdiction, and this remedy shall be in addition to any penal provision in this ordinance or in the Fort Worth City Code. SECTION 13. This ordinance shall take effect and be in full force from and after / 1963. APPROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY: Y City Attorney