Mount Prospect, IL Mobility & Curb Rules: Bike Lane Rules (2026)

Section 18.1604 of the Mount Prospect Village Code is the core riding rule for cyclists, and it has three parts. Subsection A requires every person operating a bicycle upon a roadway to ride as near to the right side of the roadway as practicable, exercising due care when passing a standing vehicle or one proceeding in the same direction. Subsection B requires riders on a roadway to ride single file, with one printed exception: paths or parts of roadways set aside for the exclusive use of bicycles. Subsection C is the path mandate: whenever a usable path for bicycles has been provided adjacent to a roadway, bicycle riders shall use that path and shall not use the roadway.

This section governs how cyclists ride. It does not use the words bike lane and it does not itself address a motorist who blocks one, so the phrase about parts of roadways set aside for exclusive bicycle use is the closest printed reference to a marked lane.

Surrounding sections in Article XVI of Chapter 18 fill in the rest. Section 18.1601 gives a person riding a bicycle on a roadway all the rights and all the duties of a vehicle driver under the chapter. Section 18.1607 makes the chapter applicable to bicycles on any street, alley, highway, sidewalk or public path set aside for the exclusive use of bicycles within the Village, and bars a parent or guardian from authorizing or knowingly permitting a child or ward to violate it. Section 18.1606 requires a white front lamp visible from five hundred feet at night, a red rear reflector and a brake, and section 18.1613 bans sirens and whistles on bicycles.

When the Village builds a public bike path, section 16.309 requires a minimum width of eight feet for two-way traffic, a six inch aggregate base with a two inch bituminous surface, and removable posts at every location needed to keep vehicular traffic off the path. Village residents also need a licensed bicycle under section 18.1608, issued by the chief of police without charge and effective until the next May 1.