Tucson, AZ Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Obstruction Rules (2026)

City Code Sec. 25-51(a) prohibits placing, depositing or allowing to remain any item or object on a public sidewalk that interferes with full, free and unobstructed public use. Sec. is automatically deemed an obstruction and a violation. , an item escapes that classification only if it satisfies all five conditions at once: it measures four cubic feet or less in aggregate; it is personally attended by its owner; it is not affixed to anything; it sits at least five feet back from the sidewalk edge nearest the street; and on sidewalks wider than eight feet, it is confined to the three feet of width farthest from the street (the code's own example: on a 12-foot sidewalk, the nine feet closest to the street must stay entirely clear).

The overnight exception never applies to underpasses or overpasses, including the Fourth Avenue Underpass named in the code. Sec. 25-51(c) requires a permit from the Director of Transportation to place anything on those sidewalks at any time, and the prohibition extends to within 25 feet of an underpass or overpass entrance. Sec. 25-51(a) does carve two standing exceptions: mayor-and-council-approved benches placed with written city manager approval, filed with the city clerk and cancellable for cause, and garbage or trash containers set out for the reasonable time needed for collection.

The section traces to 1953 Code ch. 24, § 12, was rewritten by Ord. No. 6195 in 1985, and got its detailed time/size test from Ord. No. 11331 in December 2015. A cross-reference at Sec. 20-156 separately covers obstructing intersections or crosswalks.