§ 19-201. Definitions.

Congestion traffic is a condition of oversaturation or increasing intense use on public roads systems when traffic demands exceed roadway capacity. Oversaturation exists where roadway demand exceeds capacity such that significant vehicle queuing exists which can also be characterized as gridlock and where greater vehicular density, and close vehicle spacing results in little to no movement when more than one lane is available and/or where little to no entry or exist from the travel lane exists with little to no forward movement. In essence it is the difference between the street network system performance that is in place, and what users expect and how the system actually performs, or degrades in performance under certain conditions. For purposes of this article, congestion traffic is either recurring or incident/nonrecurring in origin.

Incident/nonrecurring traffic congestion is caused by specific random traffic incidents, planned or unplanned special events, weather conditions, work zones and emergency events. These incidents or nonrecurring events dramatically reduce the level of service and reliability of the entire transportation system. Incident traffic congestion dramatically impacts overall area-wide and city-wide commuter health and safety, vehicular and pedestrian mobility, and travel time reliability for visitors and residents alike. Incident traffic congestion requires aggressive applications and management to reduce the impacts of these disruptions and return the system to normal operation and full capacity.

Planned or unplanned special events, for the purposes of this article, include outdoor sporting events, concerts, festivals, fireworks displays and conventions occurring at permanent multi-use venues (e.g., arenas, stadiums, racetracks, fairgrounds, amphitheaters, convention centers, etc.). They also include less frequent public events such as parades, bicycle races, marathons, seasonal festivals and milestone celebrations at temporary venues that involve the use of the public way, and also include sporadic or cyclical events such as automobile or motorcycle rallies, which are a gathering of riders, drivers and enthusiasts scheduled and sponsored by specific clubs, associations, event planners and/or organizers, event promoters, vendors, dealers or vendor permit sellers for the purpose of retail sales to attendees, who expect and are provided a variety of vending opportunities and entertainment events by those who profit from the gathering. The term special event is not used to denote the perceived quality of the event, or to imply that one entity is necessarily in charge of organizing or managing the event but is used to describe these types of activities because of their known shared characteristics of widespread promotion by those seeking profit, with a location identified as the place of gathering or rally, with a published or publicly known time of occurrence, either sporadic, cyclical or scheduled. The resulting congestion can be attributed to event promotion or staging, or lack of planning or control by event promoters or organizers. Planned or unplanned special events can dramatically impact overall travel safety, vehicular and pedestrian mobility, and travel time reliability for visitors and residents alike. It is anticipated that those events that seek and obtain a special events permits shall have a traffic component that address anticipated congestion traffic. However, should the plan prove inadequate, law enforcement has the flexibility to implement traffic congestion counter measures, including but not limited to those measure contained herein.

Recurring traffic congestion is caused by inadequacies in roadway capacity demanded for the greater number of vehicles normally in peak travel periods. Mitigation of recurring congestion includes the development and deployment of traffic control, the addition of roadway capacity and/or and travel demand management strategies designed to improve operation and/or safety on congested highway facilities during peak travel periods. Recurring congestion is experienced virtually every day. This is the type of congestion where there are simply more vehicles than roadway at known times.

Road classification means the categorizing of roadways into different operational systems, functional classes or geometric types and features. The comprehensive plan uses a roadway classification system that contains both current applications, as well as long range planning. The city engineer congestion traffic management counter measures shall only exist while the congestion conditions exist in the identified area. The city engineer is responsible for the current state of classification for the purposes of this article.

Queuing means a closely spaced collection of vehicles.

Traffic incidents mean traffic slowdowns due to emergency response, natural events such as smoke producing fires of vehicles, land or dwellings, vehicle crashes, pedestrian interference with vehicular movement, or disabled or stalled vehicles or debris on the road.

Weather conditions mean precipitation, fog or wind elements affecting a driver or a roadway.

Work zones mean any area impacted by an event of right of way construction or maintenance performed under governmental control or contract.

(Ord. No. 2009-14, 5-12-09)