Lexington, KY Mobility & Curb Rules: Bike Lane Rules (2026)

Section 18-148, opening Chapter 18's bicycle article, sets five separate rules for anyone riding a bicycle, electric bicycle, or electric motor-assisted scooter (as those devices are defined in Chapter 17D). First, on a roadway, the rider must stay as near the right-hand side as practicable, exercising due care when passing a standing vehicle or one moving in the same direction. Second, riders may not travel two abreast in a business district, and never more than two abreast in any other district. Third, the mandatory-path rule, 'whenever a designated bicycle path has been provided adjacent to a roadway, bicycle riders shall use such path and shall not use the roadway,' so once a path exists alongside a given street, the roadway itself is off-limits to cyclists there.

Fourth, no rider may use a bicycle, electric bicycle, or electric scooter on any designated limited-access highway. Fifth, the section locks down what can share a bicycle path: 'No motorized vehicles shall be allowed on any designated bicycle path,' with a single carve-out for electric bicycles and electric motor-assisted scooters as Chapter 17D defines them, gas-powered mopeds, motorcycles, and similar motorized traffic are excluded outright. Section 18-145 backs this up by giving cyclists the same rights and duties as motor-vehicle drivers under state rules of the road, while Section 18-149 separately caps how far a rider may stray from the curb or roadway edge at five feet, except when passing.

The bicycle article was substantially amended by Ordinance No. 42-2019 in June 2019 to fold electric bicycles and scooters into these same path and roadway rules.