Red or Yellow Curbs

[roadman65]

I noticed that the East Coast has yellow curbs for Fire Lanes and No Parking Zones.  Yet the West Coast has red curbs for the same.  Is there no mention in the MUTCD of a standard color should be for no parking zones?

Also which one do you all like the best?

[realjd]

From what I've seen, the west coast does use yellow curbs for normal no-parking zones. The red curbs (or red stripes on the pavement) indicate fire lanes specifically. Fire lanes are a subset of no parking zones. I've never seen red curbs indicating no parking on streets.

I don't know if the MUTCD specifies this or not.

[Scott5114]

Are these actually on public streets? I think I've only seen painted curbs in parking lots and such, not actual streets.

[mapman]

From what I've seen, the west coast does use yellow curbs for normal no-parking zones. The red curbs (or red stripes on the pavement) indicate fire lanes specifically. Fire lanes are a subset of no parking zones. I've never seen red curbs indicating no parking on streets.

Really?  Where on the west coast have you seen that?  Here in California, red curb means no parking (hence its use on fire lanes) and yellow curb means a loading zone (for either people or merchandise).

[myosh_tino]

Agree 100% with mapman.  In California, red curbs mean "No Parking", yellow curbs are for loading zones.  I was under the impression that curb markings were standardized across the nation but it looks like the MUTCD leaves the definition of curb colors up to the local agencies (with the possible exception that blue is for handicapped parking).

This brought up a humorous story I heard in driver's ed class back in high school.  A local mall, wanting to be patriotic, decided to paint the curbs in the mall parking lot red, white and blue to celebrate the 4th of July.  After the curbs were painted, complaints from shoppers poured in because of the red and blue curbs (no parking and handicap parking).

[roadfro]

The MUTCD is silent on the issue of painted curbs colors to enforce parking regulation, instead recommending that the parking regulation be implemented through the use of signage.

The most common color code I have seen is: red=no parking, yellow=loading zone, green=parking for a specific time period, and blue=accessible parking. This is generally what I've seen in Nevada and California, and, except for no parking zones in obvious places (i.e. near intersections/driveways and near hydrants), painted curbs are nearly always reinforced with posted signage.

[realjd]

From what I've seen, the west coast does use yellow curbs for normal no-parking zones. The red curbs (or red stripes on the pavement) indicate fire lanes specifically. Fire lanes are a subset of no parking zones. I've never seen red curbs indicating no parking on streets.

Really?  Where on the west coast have you seen that?  Here in California, red curb means no parking (hence its use on fire lanes) and yellow curb means a loading zone (for either people or merchandise).

I'll bet I misinterpreted them. Maybe it was Texas that uses red stripes for fire lanes? Having grown up in the midwest, I'm more used to looking for signs rather than curb markings for parking restrictions.

[RJ145]

Here all you really see is yellow, for no parking. With the occasional blue to indicate a handicapped spot. But sometimes those are yellow as well.

[Duke87]

Are these actually on public streets? I think I've only seen painted curbs in parking lots and such, not actual streets.

Yup. New York City paints curbs on the street yellow to indicate no parking.

Never seen one painted red, though.

[1995hoo]

The street on which I live has yellow curbs on both sides to denote fire lanes with signs confirming that no parking or standing is permitted at any time (though it's routinely ignored by pizza men, workmen, and some visitors). Growing up in the DC area I'd always seen yellow curbs used for the purpose and never knew that any other color was ever used.

[agentsteel53]

yep, they're red out here.  I tend to assume any painted curb is "don't try it", which renders me very confused when I see a curb painted gray.  I wonder "just what the Hell restrictions are those??" but turns out it's "formerly restricted, now we were too lazy to sandblast the concrete".

[Bryant5493]

On school property, it seems that the rules are different: people park anywhere (red or yellow). :-)


Be well,

Bryant

[RJ145]

On school property, it seems that the rules are different: people park anywhere (red or yellow). :-)


Be well,

Bryant

Heh, funny you mention that. My town built a school behind an elderly housing complex. The area was a poor choice, given only 1 road in or out, and next to no parking. So parents park anywhere they want while waiting for junior to come out.

So after some complaints about people parking in resident spots and fire lanes the police began active enforcement of it. And a friend of mine who is an officer shared this story with me.

He pulls up to the fire lane to move out the people waiting in their cars and gets up to this one woman and says


Him: "Ma'am you can't park here this is a fire lane"

Her: "But I'm not parked"

Him: "But you can't leave your car here.... its a fire lane"

Her: "But I'm not parked"

Him: "Ma'am you can't stay here"

Her: "But my car isn't parked!"


So he wrote her a moving violation, I forget exactly what it was for, but it also added points to her license.

[1995hoo]

What RJ145 mentions is one reason why the signs around here say "no parking or standing."

[thenetwork]

I live in a college town (Mesa State College, being renamed Colorado Mesa University in about a month) and in the residential areas for those many, many commuters who want to avoid paying for parking in school lots park anywhere they can on the area side streets and huff it to class.

The funny thing is that some residents along said side streets have painted the curbs themselves in front of their hoses red (you can tell because the city doesn't paint many -- if any -- curbs, and because they never look that great) and the commuter students more times than not will NOT park in those spots, even though there are no official city-installed signage recognizing these "zones".

It's kinda like the big cities in the east where residents will place pylons, lawn-chairs and other things in the street by the curb to let people know that it is "reserved parking" for the home-owner's vehicles -- it's not illegal for any ol' person to park there, but it's not really legal for the homeowner to "own" a particular part of a public thoroughfare, either.

[bulldog1979]

When I was young, and right after my younger brother was born, my parents had to resort to posting no parking signs and paint. See, my brother was born premature and on a heart monitor for the first several months of his life. My parents driveway was  a set of gravel lines in the yard, and we lived near the football field in town.

Rather than find another spot to park, spectators of the football games would park on the street in front of my parents' parked cars on Friday nights. The city police were warned that in case of an emergency, my parents would do whatever necessary to get my brother to the hospital if blocked in. The fine officers were really good at issuing tickets and having license plate numbers read over the PA system at the games.

[Brandon]

Painting of the curb tends to be an east or west coast thing (or somewhere it doesn't snow) as far as I've seen.  It's rare here in the Midwest and Upper Midwest.  We tend to prefer signs as they don't get hidden in the snow as much.

[Sykotyk]

I've seen red 'corridor striping' for fire lanes in Texas and several other states. It's pretty nice that there is no dispute on whether you are or are not in a fire lane.

As for curb colors, being all over the country, I've seen both and never thought of it.

[mightyace]

I'm pretty sure I've seen red curbs somewhere here in TN, but I don't remember where.

Yellow curbs are all over the place.

And, I have seen some light blue for handicapped.

[Kacie Jane]

Here yellow is more common, although I know I've seen the occasional red.  I doubt there's any real distinction between the two colors.

Seattle I know paints their bus stops (which are 24/7 no parking zones) with alternating red and yellow.

[hm insulators]

The most common color code I have seen is: red=no parking, yellow=loading zone, green=parking for a specific time period, and blue=accessible parking. This is generally what I've seen in Nevada and California, and, except for no parking zones in obvious places (i.e. near intersections/driveways and near hydrants), painted curbs are nearly always reinforced with posted signage.

Arizona, too.

[mgk920]

Around here, I often see yellow painted curbs to denote no parking zones.  The City of Madison, WI uses alternating yellow and red painted curbs to denote transit bus stops.

Mike