ASSEMBLY, No. 1124

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 1996 SESSION

By Assemblywoman MURPHY and Assemblyman ARNONE

An Act concerning the regulation of traffic by municipalities and counties and amending R.S.39:4-8.

    Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

    1. R.S.39:4-8 is amended to read as follows.

    39:4-8. a. Except as otherwise provided in this section, no ordinance or resolution concerning, regulating or governing traffic or traffic conditions, adopted or enacted by any board or body having jurisdiction over highways, shall be of any force or effect unless the same is approved by the Commissioner of Transportation, according to law. The commissioner shall not be required to approve any such ordinance, resolution or regulation, unless, after investigation by him, the same shall appear to be in the interest of safety and the expedition of traffic on the public highways.

    b. In the case of totally self-contained streets under municipal jurisdiction which have no direct connection with any street in any other municipality, or in the case of totally self-contained streets under county jurisdiction which have no direct connection with any street in any other county, the municipality or county may, by ordinance or resolution, as appropriate, without the approval of the Commissioner of Transportation, designate reasonable and safe speed limits and erect appropriate signs [and], designate any intersection as a stop or yield intersection and erect appropriate signs and place longitudinal pavement markings delineating the separation of traffic flows and the edge of the pavement, provided that the municipal or county engineer shall, under his seal as a licensed professional engineer, certify to the municipal or county governing body , as appropriate, that any designation or erection of signs or placement of markings: (1) has been approved by him after investigation by him of the circumstances, (2) appears to him to be in the interest of safety and the expedition of traffic on the public highways and (3) conforms to the current standards prescribed by the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways, as adopted by the Commissioner of Transportation.

    A certified copy of the adopted ordinance or resolution, as appropriate, shall be transmitted by the clerk of the municipality or county, as appropriate, to the commissioner within 30 days of adoption, together with a copy of the engineer's certification; a statement of the reasons for the engineer's decision; detailed information as to the location of streets, intersections and signs affected by any designation or erection of signs or placement of markings; and traffic count, accident and speed sampling data, when appropriate.

    Nothing in this subsection shall allow municipalities to designate any intersection with any highway under State or county jurisdiction as a stop or yield intersection or counties to designate any intersection with any highway under State or municipal jurisdiction as a stop or yield intersection.

    c. Subject to the provisions of R.S.39:4-138, in the case of any street under municipal or county jurisdiction, a municipality or county may, without the approval of the Commissioner of Transportation, do the following:

    By ordinance or resolution:

    (1) prohibit general parking;

    (2) designate restricted parking under section 1 of P.L.1977, c.309 (C.39:4-197.6);

    (3) designate time limit parking; and

    (4) install parking meters.

    By ordinance, resolution or regulation:

    (1) designate loading and unloading zones and taxi stands;

    (2) approve street closings for periods up to 48 continuous hours; and

    (3) designate restricted parking under section 1 of P.L.1977, c.202 (C.39:4-197.5).

    Nothing in this subsection shall allow municipalities or counties to establish angle parking or to reinstate or add parking on any street, or approve the closure of streets for more than 48 continuous hours, without the approval of the Commissioner of Transportation.

(cf: P.L.1993, c.122)

    2. This act shall take effect immediately.

STATEMENT

    The bill would permit municipalities and counties, by ordinance or resolution, as appropriate, without the approval of the Commissioner of Transportation, to respectively designate the placement of longitudinal pavement markings on totally self-contained streets under municipal jurisdiction which have no direct connection with any street in any other municipality or on totally self-contained streets under county jurisdiction which have no direct connection with any street in any other county. The municipalities and counties are granted this authority provided that the municipal or county engineer, as the case may be, certifies to the municipal or county governing body that the placement of any such markings has been approved by the engineer, is in the best interests of safety and conforms to the Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices for Streets and Highways. According to the manual, longitudinal pavement markings include center lines, lane lines and shoulder lines. The bill requires the clerk of the municipality or county, as the case may be, to transmit a copy of the engineer’s certification, as well as copy of the adopted ordinance or resolution, within 30 days of adoption to the commissioner. The bill also permits those other provisions of R.S.39:4-8 pertaining to self-contained streets under municipal jurisdiction to also apply to self-contained streets under county jurisdiction, as in the case of designating speed limits, and designating stop or yield intersections.

Allows municipalities and counties to stripe certain roads without DOT approval.