Transportation -
Frequently Asked Questions
Below are the answers to the questions
we are asked most frequently. Hopefully, you will
find the information you need on this page, but if your
question isn't listed here or if you need additional
information, please
contact us.
Do you issue or accept payment for parking tickets?
Where can I renew my driver's license or vehicle tags?
Where can I find out about road construction in Mesa?
How can I report a pothole?
When can I drive on the street after Slurry/Seal coats?
How do I report a streetlight out?
How do I report a traffic signal light out?
Why are traffic signals timed they way they are?
Why do left turn arrows only seem to work at certain times?
How are pedestrian crosswalks timed?
Why are there cameras on top of some of the traffic signals?
Does Transportation operate red light cameras?
How do I get a traffic signal installed at my intersection?
How do I get a left turn arrow?
How do I get a stop sign at a Tee Intersection?
How do I reduce speeding in my neighborhood?
How can I request a speed hump?
How can I get a copy of the current bus schedule in Mesa?
Do you perform car seat safety checks?
What are traffic engineers doing to help older drivers?
No, the Transportation Department does not issue or
accept payment for parking tickets. These tickets are issued and processed
through the Mesa Police Department
or call the main number at 480-255-0072.
The City of Mesa Transportation does not issue driver's licenses or vehicle tags. Contact the
Arizona
Department of Transportation's Motor Vehicle
Department or call
602-252-0072.
Engineering lists current lane restrictions
and capital improvement projects within the City of Mesa. You can also visit the
Arizona Department of Transportation or the
Maricopa County Department of
Transportation.
You can either
submit an online report
or call our hotline at 480-644-3038. When reporting a pothole, please let us
know your name, phone number and the address or
precise location of the pothole.
You cannot drive on the street until the barricades are removed. They start
taking them down at 4:30pm. Once the barricades are removed, you can drive on
the street.
You can either submit an online report or call our hotline at 480-644-3191. When
reporting a streetlight, please let us know your name, phone number and
the address or precise location of the streetlight . Please also note whether
the light
is out, cycles on and off, or is burning during the day.Currently, the
turn-around around time for repairing streetlights is 15
business days from the day it was reported. Please note that the City does not
repair private lights such as lights in trailer parks, apartment complexes,
private parking lots, private subDepartments, gated communities, or on private
property. These
lights are usually the responsibility of the owners of the property or are maintained by Salt River Project. There are some areas in the
City that have a City of Mesa mailing address but are not incorporated into the
City.
The City does not maintain the lights in these areas (examples of these
are Dreamland Villa, Leisure World, Thunder Mountain). These lights are private
or are maintained by Salt River Project. In addition, there are also some
Special Improvement Districts (agreements between Maricopa County and Salt River
Project before these areas were annexed into the City) in the City that have
most of their streetlights repaired by Salt River Project. Some examples of
these are: Apache Wells, Desert Sands, Arizona Skies, Golden Hills, Fountain of
the Sun and Twin Knolls. For more information on streetlights maintained by SRP,
call them at 602-236-8490.
Learn more
about City streetlights.
You can either submit an online report
or call our hotline at 480-644-2160. If possible,
please let us know if the entire intersection is
dark or just a single indication. For a single
indication, please note which color bulb is out and
also which direction the traffic signal is facing.
Please also be willing to provide your name, phone
number and address, in the event the technician
needs to contact you with questions.Current timing is in place to provide safe and efficient movement of
traffic. Through its central traffic control system, traffic signals are
timed to promote progression of traffic along the major streets, thereby
reducing overall delay. One may experience some delays on the minor
streets to facilitate the progression on a heavier traversed street. A significant amount of planning and effort goes into the the timing of an intersection.
We continue to monitor intersection timings and traffic flow and make adjustments
as necessary. For more information on signal timing at a particular
intersection, please call Signal Systems 480-644-2160.
Left turn arrows only come on when the controller equipment at the intersection
recognizes that a vehicle is present.
If a vehicle arrives too late to be detected, the intersection may skip the
arrow. Some left turn arrows use third car detection. This means that the left turn
arrows operate when three or more vehicles are present in the left turn lane.
Sometimes the detection equipment does not pick up a vehicle, or will place a
constant call into the controller; if you would like
to report a left turn signal that does not seem to be functioning properly,
please call Signal Systems at 480-644-2160.
The WALK (man), the flashing DON'T WALK (flashing
orange hand), and the steady DON'T WALK
(steady orange hand) symbols make up the pedestrian
timing. The WALK signal indicates that it's
alright to begin crossing the street. The
flashing DON'T WALK signal indicates that you should
not begin to cross the street, but should continue
safely across the intersection. The steady
DON'T WALK signal indicates that you should not
begin to cross and that you should complete your
crossing and get out of the intersection as quickly
as possible.The WALK interval is usually very
short, sometimes as brief as six seconds. The
flashing DON' WALK timing is normally based on the
crossing distance of an intersection and a person's
average walking speed. Not all crosswalks have
pedestrian push buttons, but for those that do, the
side street will remain green for a longer amount of
time if the button is pushed. Some of Mesa's
streets are very wide, so it may take a greater
amount of time for a person to cross them. In
addition, some intersections do not have pedestrian
push buttons, but do have pedestrian indications.
These locations are set to service the pedestrian
every time the concurrent vehicle green indications
are active.
Cameras are in place at several locations throughout Mesa. Some are used to
monitor traffic conditions, while others are used to detect the presence of
vehicles at an intersection, thereby providing service and extended green time.
The devices located on top of the traffic signal head, at the end of the mast
arm and over the roadway aren't cameras, although most people think they are.
These are fire preemption devices. Approximately two-thirds of Mesa's traffic signals
are equipped with fire preemption. Fire department vehicles have special coded
transmitters that trigger the system. This equipment makes the traffic signal
give the green indication to the approaching fire vehicle to help emergency
services personnel arrive quickly and safely to where they're needed.
The City of Mesa Transportation Department is not responsible for the red light
cameras. They are a part of the Mesa Police Department's photo safety program.
Any questions should be directed to the
Mesa Police Department.
A study can be requested of the intersection, which involves analyzing data
and taking traffic counts. Contact Traffic Studies at 480-644-2160 to request a
study.A study can be
requested of the intersection, which involves analyzing data and taking traffic
counts. Contact Traffic Studies at 480-644-2160 to request a study.Stop signs are not needed to assign the right of way at Tee
intersections in Arizona. Arizona state law requires the drivers on the
terminating street to yield to drivers on the continuing street. Stop signs may be installed if a traffic study indicates a
stop sign would improve safety. To request a study of the intersection, contact
Traffic Studies at 480-644-2160.
For traditional enforcement, contact the Mesa Police
Department at 480-644-3533 or submit a
Traffic Enforcement Request Form. In addition to traditional enforcement, the Police Department
offer two community programs to curb neighborhood speeding: the Speed Trailer
and the Block Watch Program. For more information on these programs call Police
Community Relations at 480-644-2300. In addition to the Speed Hump Program (see FAQ below), the
Transportation Department offers two community programs: the Speed Watch and the
Pace Car Program.The Neighborhood Speed Watch Program is a citizen-involved
activity in which neighborhood residents collect vehicle and speed information
to allow identification of and warnings to be sent to speed limit violators on
residential streets. The Pace Car Program is an information campaign that
encourages participants to “pledge” to drive the speed limit in their
neighborhood. Those who commit are given an “official pace car” window
sticker. Contact Traffic Studies at 480-644-2160 for more information.
To be eligible for speed humps, a street must meet certain conditions. Two of the key conditions are that the street is not a primary
emergency response route (ie. a fire route), and the 85th percentile
speed is at least 8 m.p.h. over the speed limit. At this time, residents requesting speed humps must pay the
costs for traffic counts. A new policy was approved by City Council on
8/28/06.
View the speed hump policy
(.pdf 1 page) and all of the conditions
that must be satisfied before speed humps may be installed on a street. For
more information, contact Traffic Studies at 480-644-2160.
Visit the Valley Metro
web site for a current bus schedule and fare rates.
The Transportation Department does not currently perform these checks. The
Mesa Fire Department
inspects car seats by appointment only, call
480-644-2200 to make an appointment.
The increasing needs of
older motorists are becoming apparent as a greater
proportion of our nation's motorists fall into the
65 or older age group. The natural aging
process results in a steady decrease in the
abilities needed to perform the driving task.
The affect of aging upon vision, hearing,
coordination, range of movement, strength,
attentiveness, and response time have been well
documented through research.
Concerns over how these
limitations affect motorists has resulted in several
research studies that document both these
limitations and that (sometimes) make
recommendations that could off-set these
limitations. The most recent of these large
studies resulted in the January 1998 publication of
the Older Driver Highway Design Handbook, by FHWA.
The recommendations found in this handbook were
strongly reflected in the Millennium edition of the
Manual On Uniform Traffic Control Devices, which
became the law of the land for most Cities, Counties
and States on January 16, 2001.
In addition to new
standards in the MUTCD, and as a result of the above
referenced handbook and previous research studies,
traffic control signs have gotten larger, more
legible, incorporate more symbols, and have more
retroreflectivity. Traffic signal faces have
also gotten larger, are better located within fields
of view, and longer walking times for pedestrians
are becoming common, as are pedestrian refuge
islands, and other safer provisions for pedestrians.
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