Abilene, TX Public Conduct: Jaywalking (2026)

Section 18-165 of the Code of Ordinances sets three separate pedestrian crossing rules. First, between adjacent intersections where traffic-control signals are operating, a pedestrian may not cross the roadway anywhere except in a marked crosswalk, meaning mid-block crossing between two signalized corners is unlawful. Second, inside any area the City has designated a business district, no pedestrian may cross a roadway other than in a crosswalk at all, a stricter rule than the mid-block prohibition because it removes the option to cross legally between intersections regardless of signals.

Third, diagonal crossing through an intersection is barred unless official traffic-control devices authorize it, and even where diagonal crossing is allowed, pedestrians must follow the specific markings or signals governing that movement rather than cutting an unmarked diagonal line. The section traces to section 17-78 of the 1965 Code and has not been substantively rewritten since. It sits in Article IX, Pedestrians, alongside section 18-166, which separately bars pedestrians from passing through, over, or under a closing or closed railroad crossing gate or bridge barrier, and section 18-167, which bars stopping, standing, or sitting in an intersection or crosswalk longer than needed to cross it, with an expanded list of covered freeway-adjacent intersections along Winters Freeway, Buffalo Gap Road, Judge Ely Boulevard, and several other named corridors.