Bellingham, WA Parking Rules: Curb Color Rules (2026)

Bellingham follows the standard Washington practice that all official curb markings and signage on public streets - red (no parking / fire lane), yellow (loading zone), green (time-limited parking), white (passenger loading), and blue (accessible parking) - are placed by City of Bellingham Public Works staff under the federal Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) standards referenced through BMC Chapter 11.33 (Parking, Standing, and Stopping). Residents and adjacent property owners may not paint, repaint, or alter a public curb; the city does not maintain a permit program for private red-curb requests in front of driveways. Even where curb paint has faded or is missing, the state-law parking restrictions apply by default through RCW 46.61.570 (Stopping, standing, or parking prohibited in specified places): no parking within fifteen feet of a fire hydrant on either side, within twenty feet of a crosswalk at an intersection, within an intersection itself, on a sidewalk, in front of a public or private driveway, or in any space where official signs prohibit stopping. BMC 11.33.060 also independently prohibits parking in front of a public or private driveway or within five feet of the end of the curb leading thereto. Blocking a fire hydrant is among the most heavily enforced parking violations because of the immediate public-safety risk. To report missing or faded curb markings or sign damage, contact City of Bellingham Public Works; for active parking enforcement, contact Bellingham Parking Services at (360) 778-7780. Unauthorized painting of a public curb is unauthorized work in the public right-of-way and may require restoration at the property owner's expense plus penalties.