Traffic Engineering is responsible for ensuring the safe and efficient movement of persons and goods within unincorporated Orange County. This is accomplished through our Signal Operations and Traffic Investigations staff.  Additionally, Traffic Engineering staff are responsible for project management and plan checking of County roadway projects.

Project Administration

Project Administration is responsible for project management and in coordination with Road Programs, helps to secure grant funds for the planning, design and construction of road and bridge projects within unincorporated Orange County. Grants are received from the Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA), a local source, and through the State and Federal government.  Project Administration staff actively pursues project development and initial planning activities with lead County groups including Road Design, Bridge Design and Operations & Maintenance.  Staff coordinates with various governmental agencies, including various County departments, cities, OCTA and Caltrans, as well as private consulting firms to identify possible projects for design and inclusion within the multi-year transportation funding program.

This group also reviews encroachment permits, project reports, traffic control plans, signing and striping plans and street improvement plans prepared by a Developer’s engineer and various governmental agencies.

Project Administration establishes the Architect-Engineer (A-E) on call list for Road and Bridge project categories.  OC Public Works uses A-E firms to supplement internal staff in order to implement road construction projects in a timely manner.  Road Programs staff solicit Statement of Qualifications (SOQs) from A-E firms to provide on-call engineering and engineering support services for Road and Bridge project categories, on a not-to-exceed $200,000 and $300,000 basis, respectively.  An updated slate of selected firms is established, on a recurring basis, approximately every two to three years.  Contact Larry Abad at (714) 834-3061 for more information on the guidelines for the A-E on call program.  

Signal Operations

Signal Operations staff are responsible for the design, operation and maintenance of the traffic signal system within the unincorporated County as well as within contract cities. The County currently operates and maintains over 200 signal systems, approximately 60 of which are within the unincorporated County. The maintenance of these signals is performed by specialized County engineering technicians and by a private signal maintenance contractor. New traffic signals are designed by Traffic Engineering staff based on various warrants or are designed by private engineers, in conjunction with new development, and reviewed by Project Administration.

For more information, please contact Dan Richards at (714) 834-4502.

Traffic Investigations

Traffic Investigations ensures that the highways within the unincorporated County of Orange are safe to travel under normal operating conditions. This occurs through response to investigation requests generated through County Operations and Maintenance staff and public citizen concerns, deficiency identification through staff field reviews, performing studies to address identified deficiencies and preparing improvement plans to mitigate or correct deficiencies.  Traffic Investigations serves as the staff support to the Orange County Traffic Committee by conducting investigations and preparing staff reports to provide recommendations to the Committee as it considers issues of traffic safety within unincorporated County roadways.

Traffic Investigations also provides traffic engineering support to other County agencies and departments. That support includes preparing and reviewing striping and signing plans for Capital Improvement Projects, reviewing temporary traffic control plans for work within County roads, researching records and providing expert witness assistance in response to claims against the County and establishing and interpreting County traffic engineering policy. Traffic staff maintain various traffic engineering-related records including accident records, traffic volumes and speed surveys.

For more information, please contact Rick Diaz at (714) 834 5069.