Waterloo, IA Parking Rules: Street Parking Limits (2026)

Waterloo Traffic Code § 273, "No Parking," is the general prohibited-locations rule enforced citywide under the Traffic Code adopted at § 6-1-1. Except when avoiding a traffic conflict or complying with a police officer's directions, no one may stop, stand, or park a vehicle on a sidewalk (though a bicycle may, if it doesn't block pedestrians), in front of a public or private driveway or within five feet of where that driveway meets the street, inside an intersection, on a crosswalk, within ten feet of a flashing beacon or stop sign, within fifty feet of a railroad crossing, within twenty feet of a fire station driveway (seventy-five feet on the opposite side when posted), alongside a street excavation that would obstruct traffic, on the roadway side of another parked vehicle, wherever signs or curb markings prohibit it, within ten feet of any crosswalk citywide, on a bridge or underpass, or in an alley in a way that blocks other vehicles.

Section 274, "Method Of Parking," backs this up by requiring every vehicle to park with its right-hand wheels within eighteen inches of the curb (left-hand wheels on one-way streets), which effectively bars parking facing oncoming traffic. Section 272 names the Waterloo Police Department, parking enforcement officers, and code enforcement officers as the enforcement agencies for all parking rules, and Section 284 lets any of them tow a vehicle parked in violation of state law or city ordinance to a place of safekeeping at the owner's expense.