The California Vehicle Code (CVC) has established the law regarding parking near fire hydrants. Pursuant to section 22514, no person shall stop, park, or leave standing any vehicle within 15 feet of a fire hydrant.

Generally, the City does not paint red curb in front of fire hydrants due to the high cost of maintenance.  There are thousands of fire hydrants within the city limits and maintaining 30 feet of red curb in front of all of them would take away resources that can more effectively be deployed to maintain other public facilities around the City.

If a vehicle is parked too close to a hydrant in a fire emergency, the Fire department will use all means necessary to gain access to the fire hydrant.  In non-emergency situations a vehicle parked within 15 feet of a fire hydrant is in violation of CVC 22514 and can be cited by a Police Officer or Parking Enforcement Officer.

If there is a vehicle parked in front of a fire hydrant, please call the Police Department at (619) 691-5151.  If there is a fire emergency, call 911 immediately.

Children at Play signs are not recognized by the State of California or the Federal government as official traffic control devices and are therefore not installed on public streets in the City of Chula Vista.

Traffic studies have shown that these signs do not increase driver awareness to the point of reducing vehicle speeds or pedestrian collisions.  In fact, placement of the signs may increase the potential for collisions by providing a false sense of protection that does not exist and cannot be guaranteed.

The CVC defines crosswalks as the part of a roadway that is an extension of the walkways or sidewalks at the intersection.   Unless there’s a sign indicating not to cross the street there, the crosswalk already exists.

Note that not all crosswalks are marked.  That’s for a good reason: studies have shown that pedestrians at intersections where there are no stop controls or traffic signals are more likely to be struck by a vehicle while in a marked or painted crosswalk than in an unmarked crosswalk.  The reason apparently is that marked crosswalks may give pedestrians a false sense of security, believing that motorists will yield to them.

Crosswalk markings are used to guide pedestrians to a preferred crossing location.  The markings are not nearly as visible to an approaching motorist as they are to the pedestrian.  At intersections without stop signs or traffic signals (uncontrolled intersections) where it’s obvious where pedestrians should cross, crosswalks probably shouldn’t be marked except when supplemented by other pedestrians warning signs/devices and additional pavement markings to warn motorists that they are approaching an uncontrolled marked crosswalk and to be prepared to stop for a pedestrian on the crosswalk.  The City has a marked crosswalk policy for the installation of these marked crosswalks at uncontrolled locations.

Speed laws, as well as other traffic laws, are enacted by the State Legislature and compiled in the California Vehicle Code (CVC). 

All states base their speed regulations on the Basic Speed Law: “No person shall drive a vehicle at a speed greater than is reasonable or prudent and in no event at a speed which endangers the safety of persons or property” (CVC 22350).

California state law also establishes maximum speed limits. For example the maximum speed on an undivided two-lane roadway is 55 MPH (CVC 22349b).  All other speed limits are called prima facie limits, which are considered by law to be safe and prudent under normal conditions. Certain prima facie limits are established by California law and include the 25 MPH speed limit in business and residential districts and the 25 MPH limit in school zones when children are present.

Local jurisdictions have authority to establish reduced speed limits on the basis of engineering and traffic surveys (CVC 22358).  Such surveys must include an analysis of roadway conditions, accident records and a sampling of the prevailing speed of traffic, (CVC 627).  Other factors may be considered, but an unreasonable speed limit, which is called a speed trap, may not be established, (CVC 40802).

The Legislature has declared a strong public policy against the use of speed traps, to the extent that citations issued where a speed trap is found to exist are likely to be dismissed, particularly if radar enforcement methods are used (CVC 40803 – 40805).

A provision of the vehicle code that California Courts have generally considered very important reads, “It is the intent of the Legislature that physical conditions such as width, curvature, grade and surface conditions, or any other condition not readily apparent to a driver, in the absence of other factors, would not require special downward speed zoning, as the basic rule of section 22350 is sufficient regulation as to such conditions” (CVC 22358.5).  The words, It is the intent of the Legislature, are intended to get the attention of traffic engineers and local jurisdictions in setting and maintaining local speed limits.  Such speed limits must be set carefully, as justified by appropriate factors, to avoid making such limits unenforceable.

In all other areas the speed limit is set by an engineering and traffic survey which is done once every seven years for each segment of roadway.

When traffic problems occur, concerned citizens frequently ask why we don’t lower the speed limit.  There are widely held misconceptions that speed limit signs will slow the speed of traffic, reduce accidents, and increase safety.  Most drivers drive at a speed that they consider to be comfortable, regardless of the posted speed limit.  Before and after studies have shown that there are no significant changes in average vehicle speeds following the posting of new or revised speed limits.  Furthermore, research has found no direct relationship between posted speed limits and accident frequency.

Realistic speed limits help preserve uniformity of speed.  Uniformity of speed is valuable for a number of reasons:

• It maintains consistency in traffic gaps for crossing traffic.
• It enables pedestrians to more accurately judge the speed of traffic.
• It reduces the possibility of conflict between faster and slower drivers.
• It makes unreasonable violators more obvious to enforcement personnel.

If you have further questions regarding the establishment of speed limits or a missing or needed speed limit sign, please call Traffic Engineering at (619) 691-5026.

If you have concerns regarding the enforcement of speed limits please contact the Traffic Division of the Chula Vista Police Department at (619) 691-5151.

You may do so through the ACT Chula Vista app (available for iPhone and Android devices ), by visiting the Service Requests page, or you may also call the Public Works Department at (619) 397-6000.  ACT Chula Vista and Public Works Dispatch are strictly for non-emergency services and any emergency should be reported to the Police Department at (619) 691-5151 or by calling 911.

Since the roadways are public, they are subject to the laws of the California Vehicle Code and the Chula Vista Municipal Code.  As long as vehicles are parked correctly, they are subject to the 72-hours parking limit.  Each home is typically required to have at least a 2-car garage and driveway in order to provide sufficient off-street parking.  For any home, the vehicles should first be parked within the garage.  Secondly, the driveway should be utilized.  Third, use any legal parking space available on the local public street.

Any vehicle exceeding that limit is subject removal by the Police or Fire Department in accordance with sections 22651 and 22669 of the California Vehicle Code.

If you think there is an abandoned car in your neighborhood please call the Chula Vista Police Department at (619) 691-5151.

The City of Chula Vista does have a City Council Policy titled "Installation of Speed Humps for Residential Streets."  Please see the link below for specific information. A "speed hump" covers the entire width of a roadway, for a distance of about twelve feet, with a maximum height of about three inches. "Speed humps" differ significantly from the "speed bump" which are commonly found in parking lots and other private development areas. Bumps are often higher, and cover much less length of roadway, as little as one foot.

The City has an annual CIP allocation consisting of major and minor pavement rehabilitation.  Major Pavement Rehabilitation projects consist of street overlays and reconstructions throughout the City, and are identified with the prefix “STM”. Minor Pavement Rehabilitation projects are mainly for street preservation and are identified with the prefix “STL”.  Pavement maintenance includes the use of ARAM, slurry, chip and other types of seals.

The selection of street segments for both types of projects comes from a five year list of streets selected to match each year’s funding appropriations.  Priority is given to high volume and high speed streets classified as collectors and arterials as approved by the City Council’s Resolution number 2007-080.

This new Pavement Rehabilitation Project (STL) is funded by Measure P and intended to be active until 2027. This project will focus on the rehabilitation of residential streets with PCI's ranging from 0 to 25. The street selection for this project varies in that the streets in worst condition, though unlikely to be prioritized in other programs, will be repaired first.

The City initiated and has maintained PMS since 1986 in accordance with the California Streets and Highway Code.  In 2006, the City implemented a new PMS tool, StreetSaver database, to assist staff in determining priorities and rehabilitation strategies for the entire city and the City’s long-term rehabilitation needs.  The state requires a PMS in order for a jurisdiction to be eligible for state funding. Please check System Overview including pavement project funding information available in the following link: (http://www.chulavistaca.gov/departments/public-works/asset-management/pavement-management)

Currently the City is monitoring a total of over 3,000 (2022) street sections with 1,179 (2022) in total lane miles. The City’s average PCI is 72 (2022) compared to average PCI of 67 (2022) for the State of California.

See Policy number 585-02 Utility Trench Moratorium Policy

http://www.chulavistaca.gov/departments/public-works/asset-management/pavement-management

Every three to five years, the City hires a consultant to update its PMS database to provide an objective assessment of the pavement condition citywide. The Consultant conducts an expert evaluation of the pavement surface of all City streets, ranks each street based on a Pavement Condition Index (PCI) between 0 and 100 (with 100 being “like new), and recommends an appropriate maintenance strategy based on street PCIs.  Please visit the Pavement Management page for more info.

Regarding the posting of Speed Limit signs on the streets in residential areas in the City of Chula Vista, there are several factors that need to be considered. Generally, we do not post SPEED LIMIT 25 sign on residential streets for two very basic reasons: 1) All residential streets, meeting the CVC definition, in the State of California have a Prima Facie (“on the face of it”) speed limit of 25 MPH as established by California Vehicle Code and do not need to be posted in order to be enforced and, 2) the other reason for not posting speed limits on most residential streets is simply a matter of available resources. We have thousands of residential streets in the City, and the cost of posting speed limit signs on all of them, when it is already something that is enforceable by local Police Departments and should be something that all California drivers are aware of, is not the best use of our limited resources.

If you have concerns about speeding on your street, please Contact Us, and we can evaluate for traffic calming options and/or refer to the Police Department for speed enforcement.

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