Redwood City, CA Public Conduct: Jaywalking (2026)

Redwood City Code Sec. " That single sentence is the city's jaywalking rule, and it applies specifically to the business district, not the whole city. Outside the business district, Sec. 50 fills the gap: pedestrians crossing anywhere other than a marked crosswalk must take "a route at right angles to the curb or by the shortest route to the opposite curb," so even where a marked crosswalk isn't required, diagonal or wandering crossings are still prohibited. The two sections work together: no crossing except at a crosswalk downtown, and only straight-line crossings elsewhere.

Crosswalk placement itself is governed by Sec. 48, which lets the City Manager designate crosswalks at intersections found to pose a particular pedestrian hazard, and bars a new mid-block crosswalk on any block shorter than 400 feet. A related standing rule, Sec. 51, separately bars standing in the roadway outside a safety zone or crosswalk if it interferes with traffic, exempting on-duty public officers, employees and utility workers. None of these sections carry their own penalty clause; violations default to the Code's general penalty structure in Sec. 7, which classifies unpenalized violations as either misdemeanors or infractions depending on how the offense is charged.