Transportation

For traffic signal or traffic sign emergencies, regardless of the time of day, please contact the police department dispatch office by dialing 911 or (704) 216-8500.

A traffic signal emergency could be any of the following:

• entire signalized intersection is flashing or dark
• signal head turned in the wrong direction (including pedestrian signal heads)
• signals and support cables/lines hanging low or touching the ground
• a signal head that has been hit resulting in major damage
• a signal holding for longer than 5 minutes (you are stopped at a signal and have to wait longer than 5 minutes)

The following types of issues and concerns should be directed to our office at (704) 638-5269 as they are not considered emergencies: If a single indication is dark (i.e. only one green light is working), the light is taking longer than normal to change, the pushbutton does not seem to be working, you notice something out of the ordinary about the signal operation, or vandalism has occurred to the traffic cabinet or equipment.

If it is a stop sign or a yield sign, please call 911. If the sign is positioned such that it can hit a vehicle, regardless of the type of sign, please contact the police dispatch office by dialing either 911 or (704) 216-8500. For all other issues with a traffic sign, please call (704) 638-5260 and leave a message if no one is available to answer your call. For all other issues, you may also choose to report it through Salisbury311.

If there is a street light that is malfunctioning, it is easy to report. Please call (704) 638-5213 or email vtrou@salisburync.gov with your contact information, and the nearest physical address or directions from a landmark to the street light in question, as well as the nature of the malfunction. Or you may report the outage through Salisbury311.

If there are multiple street lights near the same physical address, Duke Energy would prefer you mark the pole with a ribbon or tape to better assist the crews who perform the repairs in the daytime. Upon receiving your notification, we will report the malfunction to Duke Energy. If the problem is not corrected after the fifth business day, please, call us back so we can investigate the reason for the delay in repair.

City staff prefers you notify us of malfunctions to our leased system as we track these issues. However, you may choose to contact Duke Energy directly. If you choose to report directly to Duke Energy, understand these outages cannot be tracked by City Staff preventing us from helping in the event it is not corrected in the proper time frames. Duke Energy’s reporting line is (800) 777-9898 or you may visit their website.

Permanent closures of public streets or alleys must follow NC General Statute 160A-299. Please call (704) 638-5200 or e-mail wbrin@salisburync.gov to obtain a petition for the street/alley you would like to permanently close. A survey, suited for recordation, and a $500 filing fee must be provided by the petitioner when the fully executed petition is returned to the Engineering Department to begin the closing process. The process takes approximately 60 days to complete.

To get a city map, visit the GIS and Maps webpage, or call (704) 638-5246 or e-mail lcold@salisburync.gov with your contact information and the type of map/map information your are looking for.

Do you feel like your street or neighborhood is too dark? You can request your street or neighborhood be evaluated for improved street lighting by contacting the Street Lighting Technician, Vickie Eddleman, at (704) 638-5213 or vtrou@salisburync.gov.

The City of Salisbury’s Street Lighting Policy uses nationally recognized design guidelines to establish appropriate street lighting levels. If City Staff determines that street(s) are below policy guidelines and it is feasible to make such improvements, a petition will be provided for your use. Once you have collected the signatures of at least 2/3 of the property owners, not tenants, you will return the petition to the Street Lighting Technician.

The petition process is in place to ensure the majority of property owners, in the affected area, want the additional street lighting. In designing a new lighting system, an attempt is made to utilize existing utility poles and minimize the installation of new utility poles. This does not mean that every existing utility pole will get a new light. An attempt is also made to ensure any new utility pole is located along the dividing property lines between parcels.

When a lighting design is created it will be released to Duke Energy for installation. Unless additional right-of-ways or easements are obtained, all work should take place within the road right-of-way. The right-of-way extends beyond the end of the roadway but varies from area to area. Upon completion of the installation, City Staff will perform a field check of their work. If underground service is required, Duke Energy nor the City of Salisbury will be responsible for fine grading or reseeding of the area. The area of installation may contain clumps or piles of dirt, which will settle after several rains.

Here are some pictures, provided by Duke Energy, of work they deem to be acceptable and typical:

If Duke Energy places flags and marking in your yard to indicate where they would like to place their new underground services and/or poles, you must leave these markers in place. It is the property owner’s responsibility to remove any private improvements from the right-of-way or have any underground improvements properly marked, per NC811 guidelines. You can learn about these guidelines by visiting their website http://www.nc811.org/safe-digging-process.html or by dialing 811. Examples of private improvements might be but are not limited to these examples: irrigation/sprinkler lines, invisible dog fences, plants, & yard decorations. Keep any markings, for your private underground improvements, intact until Duke Energy has finished installing their facilities. Duke Energy must have an underground utility locate performed, requiring leaving flags and other marking in place before, during, and after the utility locate. These markings are vital for their staff/contractors to know where the new utility is to be placed as well as where it is safe to do so. If Duke Energy has to replace these markers, they can charge the City for resetting them. If that occurs, the property owner will be charged for any fees incurred, related to the portion within their right-of-way.

The city-wide speed limit is 35 mph unless otherwise posted. Speed limit modifications can be requested through the Traffic Engineering at (704) 638-5213 or vtrou@salisburync.gov. Neighborhood speed limits may be requested as low as 25 mph. For a neighborhood speed limit modification, a petition (provided by Staff) must be submitted with over 50% support of property owners along the street(s) to be modified. Once complete and returned, the petition will be validated and scheduled for presentation to City Council.

Speed limit modification requests on non-residential streets are reviewed by the Traffic Engineering Coordinator. Studies are performed to determine the appropriate posted speed limit. The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) has the final approval authority for requests involving a street on the state highway system. Such a request can go through staff or may be made directly to NCDOT by contacting their Traffic Services Department (336) 747-7800.

On-street modifications are the responsibility of the Traffic Engineering Division. Parking modifications are requested by contacting Traffic Engineering at (704) 638-5213 or vtrou@salisburync.gov Each request is reviewed for feasibility and safety, and requires a petition (provided by Staff) to be signed by over 50% of the property owners along the affected block(s)/street(s). The affected area may include more than the block/area in question. Once complete and returned, the petition will be validated and scheduled for presentation to City Council.

Traffic calming means many things to different people. To some, traffic calming is defined by speed limit reductions. To others, it is the installation of traffic control devices such as traffic circles, all-way stops, chicanes, or speed humps. Regardless of the request, the typical request is to control speeding, reduce traffic volume both of which may produce a negative impact on a residential neighborhood. Each of these perspectives may correctly define traffic calming. In the most basic terms, traffic calming is a programmatic response to inappropriate speeds or volumes on residential streets.

The Traffic Engineering Division maintains a “Neighborhood Traffic Calming Study List.” Requests can be submitted to Traffic Engineering at (704) 638-5213 or vtrou@salisburync.gov. When requests for traffic calming are received, a site investigation is completed and baseline data is collected. The neighborhood is ranked with other streets within the city limits based on volume, speed, roadway type, etc. This list is used to identify traffic calming needs as funding becomes available.

For events:

Temporary street closures for neighborhood events are administered by the Salisbury Police Department. You may go to their webpage for more information. If the event is to be held on a street within the state highway systems (a roadway maintained by NCDOT), you must provide a 90-day advanced notice to ensure all appropriate permissions are obtained. This long time frame is necessary to take the request through the North Carolina Department of Transportation’s permit process. If you’d like to learn more about NCDOT special events permit, please visit their website.

For construction or other type work:

Temporary street closures due to construction, including single travel lanes and/or parking lanes, must go through the Engineering Department. Closures in Downtown may have to be issued a Right-of-Way Use Permit. If the request is for the use of the entire sidewalk along Main or Innes Streets, the request will have to go before City Council. The request of travel lane closures along a state maintained roadway will require the approval of NCDOT. Staff will assist in submitting the request to NCDOT.

All requests for the use of the public rights-of-way must understand and follow the criteria found in Section 22-50 of the City Code of Ordinances.

Submit a request by using our online

Salisbury311

program or by calling

(704) 638-5213

.

To justify installing or upgrading a traffic signal, a location must meet certain criteria, or warrants. The Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) is a traffic control guide produced by the United States Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration which provides standards for signs, signals, markings and other traffic control devices. The manual lists nine criteria for a traffic signal installation, at least one of which must be met to justify consideration. Even if an intersection meets one or more criteria, an engineering study is needed to determine whether a traffic signal is justified.

Criteria:

The City and North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) have installed flashing yellow arrow signal lights at intersections to address safety concerns for vehicles making left turns. The traffic signals have either three or four vertical lights, depending upon the application. The signal head with the four vertical lights (called a 4-section head) replaced the previously used five (5)-section signal head. The following will further explain what each individual indication means, when that indication is lit/active:

• Solid Red Arrow: Stop. Do not proceed through the intersection.
• Solid Yellow Arrow: Prepare to stop. If you are able to safely stop, please do so as the light is preparing to change to a Solid Red Arrow (giving the stop condition).
• Flashing Yellow Arrow: Left turns are allowed, but the driver must first yield to oncoming traffic and pedestrians.
• Solid Green Arrow: Left turns are protected. Proceed with caution. Where U-turns are permitted, they must yield to any one turning right off the side street.

Flashing yellow arrow traffic signals were tested statewide and have been used with great success in Fayetteville, Charlotte and Wilmington prior to their installation in Salisbury. There are some locations where the volume of traffic during certain times of the day make it unsafe to utilize the flashing yellow arrow function of the signal, thus the feature has been disable during those times. When that occurs the drivers must wait on a solid green arrow before being allowed to make that movement.

Any new developments will have to have street lighting installed per the LDO (Land Development Ordinance). The height, style and type of street light will be determined by the zoning and any conditional rules applied to the development. These decisions are made through the Development Services Department. The one-time fees associated with decorative street lighting are the responsibility of the developer. Section 4.4 and Section 4.7 of the LDO both apply.

The City leases lights through Duke Energy. Duke Energy has a plan to phase in the replacements of all street lights to LED. The initial phase is the change out the oldest fixtures are they fail. The second phase is to go through each service area and replace all of the remaining oldest fixtures at one time. The next phase would be to repeat phase two for the remaining fixtures. The Utility Commission has provided Duke Energy with time frames for the complete removal of certain types of fixtures. LEDs are available for new installations and provisions are available to upgrade fixtures to LEDs. Those provisions are not feasible at this point in time.