OSHKOSH (NBC 26) — The City recently made e-bikes illegal on sidewalks in front of businesses, but the change will apply to regular bikes as well.
- State law requires cities to regulate e-bikes and manual bikes the same.
- The Oshkosh City Council voted to ban bike use on sidewalks in front of buildings or businesses, particularly on Main and Oregon Streets.
- The push to regulate e-bikes in Oshkosh was spurred by multiple complaints.
Sean Lynch owns Winnebago Bicycle on Main Street. They've been buying, selling, renting, and repairing bikes since 2013.
Lynch, a bicyclist himself, says limiting bikes on downtown sidewalks is a good idea.
"Just to limit the opportunity for collisions to occur and bicyclists to clip a pedestrian on their way out of a business," he says. "I've been riding on these roads for years, and never had a problem."
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The new law in Oshkosh, as of last week's city council meeting, makes it illegal to bike on sidewalks in front of businesses. The main areas for this ordinance change are downtown Main Street and south of the river on Oregon Street.
"There’s been some complaints of different motor vehicles, including e-bikes, having conflict with pedestrians," Jim Collins, Oshkosh director of transportation, says.
The change was spurred by complaints about e-bikes, but state law requires cities to regulate e-bikes and regular bikes the same.
"Hopefully in the future, the state will differentiate e-bikes from bikes and allow municipalities to regulate them differently," Collins says.
At the state level, bikes are banned from sidewalks, but municipalities can enact their own ordinances, as Oshkosh has.
Collins says the Oshkosh Police Department will likely release an education campaign to inform locals of the rule change.
If a bicyclist is caught riding on prohibited sidewalks, Collins says they'll receive at least one warning before a possible ordinance citation.
On Main Street downtown, there are no bike lanes, so this change forces all bicyclists to ride in the road.
Lynch hopes that by pushing bicyclists into the street, Oshkosh will continue to improve its bike-friendly infrastructure.
"That needs to continue to be at the forefront of the conversation- how do we take our current roads and make them more friendly to bicycle travel," he says.
Electric scooters are regulated separately from bikes and are not allowed on sidewalks anywhere in Oshkosh.
More information on the rules surrounding bike use in Oshkosh can be found on the OPD website.
