Local authorities are restricted in how they control traffic on state highways and must follow notice and school-crossing rules.
Sec. 542.203. LIMITATION ON LOCAL AUTHORITIES. (a) A local authority may not erect or maintain a traffic-control device to direct the traffic on a state highway, including a farm-to-market or ranch-to-market road, to stop or yield before entering or crossing an intersecting highway unless permitted by agreement between the local authority and the Texas Department of Transportation under Section 221.002. (b) An ordinance or rule of a local authority is not effective until signs giving notice are posted on or at the entrance to the highway or part of the highway, as may be most appropriate. This subsection applies only to an ordinance or rule that: (1) regulates the speed of a vehicle in a public park; (2) alters a speed limit as authorized by this subtitle; (3) designates an intersection as a stop intersection or a yield intersection; or (4) designates a highway as a one-way highway or a through highway. (c) An ordinance or rule of a local authority regulating the time, place, and manner in which a roller skater may use a highway may not alter the local authority's standard of care or liability with regard to construction, design, or maintenance of a highway. (d) A local authority's standards, policies, orders, ordinances, regulations, or other measures that designate a school crossing zone or school crosswalk must include a high school campus that is located in a municipality with a population of two million or more. (e) On request of an administrator of a high school campus described by Subsection (d), a local authority shall determine the components, including any engineering report, necessary to designate a school crossing zone or school crosswalk at the campus and shall make the designation. This subsection does not apply to a high school campus undergoing major expansion or new construction that requires the preparation of a traffic impact analysis as part of the permitting process. Acts 1995, 74th Leg., ch. 165, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1995. Amended by: Acts 2023, 88th Leg., R.S., Ch. 399 (H.B. 1263), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2023.