Cobb County, GA Mobility & Curb Rules: Bike Lane Rules (2026)
Key Facts
- Where it applies
- Columns Drive, Johnson Ferry Rd to Cochran Shoals gate
- Core rule
- Bicycles stay in multi-use path, out of travel lane
- Riding formation
- Single file required except passing or obstruction
- Penalty
- Corridor ban from riding until 7 a.m. next day
- Exemptions
- Public safety activity, board-declared special events
- Adopted
- February 27, 2007, by Board of Commissioners
- Enforced by
- Cobb County Police Department
Summary
Cobb County requires bicyclists on Columns Drive, the corridor leading to the Cochran Shoals unit of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area, to stay on the paved multi-use path rather than the vehicle travel lane and to ride single file. Adopted in 2007 to curb congestion from recreational cyclists, the rule lets police bar a violator from riding the road until 7 a.m. the next day.
(b) Definitions. (3) Travel lane means that portion of the roadway on Columns Drive located between the center-line of the road (or where a median exists, from the edge of the median) and the white painted line to the right commonly known as the edge line. (4) Multi-use path means that portion of Columns Drive to the right of and between the edge line and the curb. (c) Prohibited conduct and enforcement. Not withstanding any provision of the laws of the State of Georgia or any other provision of the Official Code of Cobb County, Georgia, to the contrary, the following rules of operation apply on Columns Drive: (1) Unless necessary to safely pass or overtake a pedestrian or another bicycle, or to avoid an obstruction, all bicycles utilizing Columns Drive shall remain in the multi-use path and refrain from entering the travel lane. (2) Except when overtaking or passing a pedestrian or another bicycle or avoiding an obstruction, bicycles shall travel single file at all times. (3) Law enforcement officers who observe persons violating this ordinance may ban the violating person from operating a bicycle on Columns Drive until 7:00 a.m. the day following the violation.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: Code of Ordinances: Supplement 53).
Full Breakdown
Cobb County's rule targets a specific stretch of roadway: Columns Drive, running from Johnson Ferry Road south and west to the entrance gate of the Cochran Shoals unit of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area. The board of commissioners enacted the ordinance on February 27, 2007, citing traffic congestion from cyclists using the road for recreation rather than transportation, and the safety conflicts that congestion created for motorists and residents along the corridor.
Section 118-89(b) defines two lanes for the corridor. The travel lane runs from the road's center-line, or the edge of any median, out to the painted edge line. The multi-use path is the paved area to the right of the edge line, between the edge line and the curb, shared by cyclists and pedestrians. Under subsection (c), bicyclists must stay in the multi-use path and stay out of the travel lane, with narrow exceptions to safely pass a pedestrian or another bicycle or to avoid an obstruction in the path. Cyclists must also ride single file at all times, again except when passing or avoiding an obstruction. The definition of bicycle in subsection (b)(1) is broad: any two-wheeled, human-powered device with tandem wheels where either wheel exceeds 13 inches in diameter, plus anything towed behind a bicycle, such as a trailer.
Subsection (d) exempts official public safety activity and any special event the board of commissioners has declared, so a police bike patrol or a permitted charity ride is not in violation for using the travel lane when operational needs require it. The rule pre-empts any conflicting state traffic law or other county code section specifically for this corridor, under the notwithstanding clause opening subsection (c).
Violations & Fines
A Cobb County police officer who observes a cyclist riding in the travel lane instead of the multi-use path, or riding side by side rather than single file outside the passing exceptions, may bar that rider from operating a bicycle on Columns Drive until 7:00 a.m. the following day under section 118-89(c)(3). That on-the-spot corridor ban is the specific penalty written into this ordinance; other Code of Ordinances violations default to the general penalty in section 1-10, up to the maximum fine and jail term Georgia law allows in magistrate court under O.C.G.A. § 15-10-60.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does this bike lane rule apply countywide in Cobb County?
What happens if I ride in the travel lane on Columns Drive?
Can I ride two abreast on the multi-use path?
Are police bike patrols or organized rides exempt?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Cobb County
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