Duluth, MN Mobility & Curb Rules: Bike Lane Rules (2026)

Chapter 9 gives the Duluth City Council authority, by resolution, to establish bicycle lanes and bicycle paths anywhere in the city. Once created, a bicycle lane must be set apart from the motor vehicle travel lane with paint striping, other pavement markings, barriers or indicators, and may also carry dedicated signage; a bicycle path is marked with signing, striping or other pavement markings or indicators (§ 9-5). Section 9-6 then governs how people actually ride in those facilities: where a combination bicycle-pedestrian path exists, riders must yield the right-of-way to pedestrians; a person riding a bicycle, electric-assisted bicycle or motorized foot scooter inside a marked bicycle lane may overtake and pass motor vehicles traveling in the adjacent traffic lane on the rider's left; and on a lane or path designated one-way only, no one may ride it against the posted direction.

The Motor Vehicles and Traffic chapter backs this up from the driver's side: § 33-9 makes it unlawful to operate a motor vehicle within a designated bicycle lane except in an emergency or while entering or leaving a legal parking area or driveway, and requires any vehicle crossing a bicycle lane to yield the right-of-way to bicycles already riding in it. A companion section, § 33-10, separately bans any motor vehicle from a designated bicycle path outright, without the driveway-access exception that applies to lanes.

Together the two chapters cover both directions of the rule: how cyclists must behave inside a marked lane, and how drivers must stay out of it.