Monterey, CA Public Conduct: Jaywalking (2026)

Monterey City Code § 20-63 states the rule plainly: no pedestrian shall cross a roadway other than by a crosswalk in any business district. Crosswalks themselves are established and marked by the Traffic Engineer under § 20-62, who is also authorized to post signs at or near an intersection directing pedestrians not to cross in a particular marked crosswalk, effectively closing that specific crossing even though others nearby remain open. Where a special pedestrian traffic signal is installed, § 20-64 requires pedestrians to obey it and disregard the ordinary vehicular signal at that location.

The crosswalk-use mandate in § 20-63 applies specifically within business districts; the code does not extend the same blanket requirement to residential streets, where the more general obedience-to-traffic-regulations provision in § 20-20 still applies to any person, driver or pedestrian, who fails to perform an act required under the traffic chapter. Because Monterey's downtown core along Alvarado Street, Cannery Row and the waterfront commercial areas qualifies as business district for these purposes, pedestrians crossing mid-block in those areas rather than at a marked crosswalk are in violation even absent a posted sign specifically forbidding it.