Albuquerque, NM Parking Rules: Curb Color Rules (2026)

16). It does two things at once: it bans stopping, standing, or parking in any marked fire lane, and it tells the reader how that lane gets marked, either with a posted sign or a red-painted curb. Unlike most of Chapter 8's parking rules, this one is not limited to public streets; it reaches private property that is "devoted to public use," meaning parking lots at shopping centers, apartment complexes, and hospitals are covered as much as a city street. A separate, broader curb-color rule at § 8-5-1-1(A) bans stopping next to any curb painted either yellow or red anywhere in the city, regardless of whether the spot is marked as a fire lane, so a red curb outside a fire lane, such as a bus zone or hazard area, is off-limits under that companion section rather than § 8-5-1-16.

Together the two sections mean a driver should treat any painted red curb as a stopping prohibition first and ask what it marks second. The fire-lane ban exists so emergency apparatus keep a guaranteed access lane at a business or apartment complex, and enforcement runs through the same Traffic Code citation process as other parking violations.