Monterey Park, CA Public Conduct: Jaywalking (2026)

Monterey Park's pedestrian chapter, Chapter 10.56, gives the city engineer authority to establish marked crosswalks at intersections and, within limits, at mid-block locations: § 10.56.010(b) bars a mid-block crosswalk in any block shorter than four hundred feet and allows no more than one additional crosswalk per block, located as close to mid-block as practical. Section 10.56.030 then governs crossing anywhere else, requiring a route at right angles to the curb or the shortest route to the opposite curb except in a marked crosswalk. In practice this means a pedestrian crossing outside a painted crosswalk must walk straight across, not diagonally or along an angled path, and the rule applies citywide on any roadway, not just in business districts or near intersections.

The section traces to the city's prior code, former § 3248, and has not been substantively amended since, so it predates and sits independently of the more detailed intersection and crosswalk-establishment rules layered on top of it later. Because the ordinance is drawn from the city's own police powers rather than a direct restatement of a specific California Vehicle Code section, a citation for violating § 10.56.030 is a municipal infraction handled through Monterey Park's own citation process, though the Monterey Park Police Department can also apply overlapping state pedestrian law where it fits the facts.