Road & Equipment Maintenance 

Responsibilities 

The Road & Equipment Maintenance Division contains two sections:

The Road Maintenance section helps provide safe roads for the residents of Humboldt County and performs routine maintenance for all county roads and bridges. The division also provides critical disaster response services during storms and other emergency events. 

The Equipment Maintenance section provides competitive procurement, maintenance and disposal of road construction equipment to ensure safe operating equipment. The heavy equipment maintenance garage maintains 120 pieces of heavy equipment, plus approximately 100 pieces of support equipment, primarily serving the Road Maintenance section. The heavy equipment shop also manages a storehouse of parts.

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Road Maintenance Requests

Submit a Request for Service/Report a Pothole

Traffic Enforcement

While Public Works is responsible for the installation and maintenance of traffic control devices, enforcement of traffic laws are provided by local law enforcement agencies. Below are links to commonly referenced code sections relating to the use of county roads:

Speed Limits

Stop Signs and Traffic Signals

Parking

On-street parking is provided on some county maintained roads. On-street parking is provided on a first-come, first serve basis and is available to the public, subject to the limitations described below. As such, no one can "reserve" an on street parking spot or claim exclusive rights to the parking lane in front of their home. In addition, on-street parking is one of the lowest priority uses of the right of way and may be eliminated in the future to better utilize the right of way for transportation uses, which is a higher priority use than the parking of vehicles. 

Parking may be temporarily prohibited by law enforcement or due to road construction.

Questions about insufficient on-street parking? See County Code Section 313-109.1.1.2 (Coastal Zoning) and County Code Section 314-109.1.1.2 (Inland Zoning) which requires that all land uses to provide sufficient off-street parking, regardless of the minimum parking required in the County Zoning Code. Contact the Planning & Building Department at 707-445-7541

Parking Accessibility

In most cases the county does not provide on-street accessible (ADA) parking stalls on county maintained roads. If an on-street accessible stall is desired on a county road, an applicant is required to obtain an Encroachment Permit from Public Works and construct the stall at their own expense.  An accessible parking stall requires the the Board of Supervisors adopt an ordinance to establish the zone (See County Code Section 431-2).  In addition, the applicant must justify why the accessible parking stall cannot be provided on-site per County Code 313-109.1.1.2 (coastal) or County Code 314-109.1.1.2 and must instead be constructed on the public street. Contact the Land Use Division at 707-445-7205  for more information.

Use and Use Restrictions

Visibility at Driveways and Road Intersections

Unauthorized Work/Use Without an Encroachment Permit

Sidewalks

  • Bicyclists rights (California Vehicle Code Section 21200)
  • Bicycling under the influence (California Vehicle Code Section 21200.5)
  • Required bike equipment (California Vehicle Code Section 21201, 21201.5, and 21212)
  • Blocking class 1 bike paths (California Vehicle Code Section 21211)
  • Parked bikes blocking the sidewalk. (California Vehicle Code Section 21210)
  • Prohibition of Motor vehicles in Bike Lanes and exceptions (California Vehicle Code Section 21209)
  • Bikes required to use designated Bike Lanes and exceptions (California Vehicle Code Section 21208)
  • Authority for the County to establish Bike Lanes (California Vehicle Code Section 21207)
  • Bike riding (California Vehicle Code Section 21202, 21204, 21203, 21205)
  • Authority for the County to regulate bikes (California Vehicle Code Section 21206)
  • Authority for the County to regulate motorized bikes (California Vehicle Code Section 21207.5)

California Vehicle Code Section 21100 provides broad authority for Cities and Counties to  adopt rules and regulations by ordinance or resolution regarding all of the following matters:

  • Regulating or prohibiting processions/assemblages on the highways.
  • Licensing and regulating the operation of vehicles for hire and their drivers.
  • Regulating traffic by means of traffic officers or others.
  • Regulating traffic by means of official traffic control devices.
  • Regulating traffic at the site of road construction. 
  • Licensing and regulating the operation of tow truck providers and drivers. 
  • Operation of bicycles and electric carts on public sidewalks.
  • Providing for the appointment of school crossing guards in the vicinity of a school.
  • Regulating the placement of garbage cans in the road.
  • Regulating cruising.
  • Authorizing the removal by law enforcement officers of vehicles unlawfully parked in a fire lane on private property. 
  • Regulating mobile billboard advertising displays. 
  • Licensing and regulating the operation of pedicabs for hire.
  • Regulating advertising signs on motor vehicles parked or left standing upon a public street. 

Broken Links

Many of the links on this webpage are to external websites. Please report broken links on the Request for Service/Report a Pothole form. Thank you for helping to keep this page up to date and accurate.