Gastonia, NC Mobility & Curb Rules: Bike Lane Rules (2026)

Section 6-62 sets the core rules for where bicycles may ride. Subsection (a) requires cyclists on a roadway to ride as near the right side as practicable, exercising due care when passing a standing or same-direction vehicle. Subsection (b) limits riders to no more than two abreast, unless they are on a path or part of a roadway set aside for the exclusive use of bicycles. Subsection (c) is the mandatory bike-path rule: wherever a usable path for bicycles has been provided adjacent to a roadway, cyclists must use that path and may not use the roadway instead, effectively making an adjacent bike path mandatory rather than optional once one exists.

Subsection (d) adds location-specific bans: no one may ride a bicycle on the premises of a municipal building, including the Garland Center, City Hall, or the Rotary Pavilion, except in the parking lot next to those buildings, and no one may ride on any sidewalk located in the central business district, defined by the same four boundary streets used in the skateboard ordinance: Walnut Avenue, Broad Street, Chester Street, and Third Avenue. The section traces to Code 1982 section 6-32 and was last amended by Ordinance No. 21-752 in December 2021, and any violation is a misdemeanor under subsection (e).