Rules regarding e-bikes and e-scooters are included in an ordinance passed by the Two Rivers common council earlier this week.
Battery-powered bicycles and scooters have made increasingly economic sense, given 2022’s high gas prices, but in Two Rivers, there had been little clarity about how they should be used.
Two Rivers City Manager Greg Buckley spoke to Seehafer News, addressing that electric bicycles have long been seen on area trails, but that some gasoline-powered bikes have been seen on trails which are officially illegal to use on trails.
Buckley said the ordinance clarifies speed limitations for electric bicycles and scooters. “It reestablishes, or reinforces, that there is a 15 mile per hour speed limit on designated trails and bikeways.”
In many parts of the country there are strict limitations of e-bikes relative to standard foot-pedal bikes, but Buckley says that’s not the case in Two Rivers.
“Where ever bicycles are allowed, including on the street, keeping to the right, e-bikes are allowed.”
Class 3 e-bikes, meaning bicycles that can propel up to 28 miles per hour, are the exception. They are not allowed on trails or bicycle paths within Two Rivers.
While e-bikes are legal to use, Buckley says they still must be registered, which is a free process.
