Ann Arbor, MI Parking Rules: Street Parking Limits (2026)

Section 10:56 of the Ann Arbor City Code is the city's list of places where a vehicle may not stop or park whether or not a sign is posted. The list runs to 16 places. It includes sidewalks, the area in front of a public or private driveway, intersections, crosswalks, areas near crosswalks and stop signs, bridges, and the front of theaters, among others.

Three distances matter most to residents. For driveways, the ban covers the driveway itself plus 4 feet on each side of a driveway with a curb cut. It applies to public and private driveways alike, and the 4-foot buffer means a car that stops just short of the curb cut is still in violation. For fire hydrants, the buffer is 15 feet. For crosswalks, the buffer is 20 feet.

The hydrant rule carries its own exception: it does not apply when the operator remains in the vehicle. A driver who stays in the vehicle within 15 feet of a hydrant is treated differently from one who parks and walks away.

The section also opens with general exceptions. Stopping or parking in a listed place is allowed when necessary to avoid conflict with other traffic, or when done in compliance with law or the directions of a police officer or traffic-control device. A driver who halts in a crosswalk because an officer directed it has not violated § 10:56.

Note that the section bans both stopping and parking. Outside the exceptions above, a brief stop in a listed place is covered the same as leaving the vehicle there.

A companion rule, § 10:50, requires parking within 12 inches of the right-hand curb. Because the vehicle has to sit along the right-hand curb, parking against the flow of traffic on the wrong side of the street is also unlawful in Ann Arbor.

None of the § 10:56 prohibitions depends on signage. A driver who blocks a driveway or parks beside a hydrant can be ticketed on a block with no parking signs at all.