Oak Park, IL Mobility & Curb Rules: Bike Lane Rules (2026)

Section 15-2-7 of the Village Code, last amended by Ordinance 2013-0-16 on February 19, 2013, governs how bicycles must be ridden on Oak Park streets and paths. Subsection A requires every cyclist on a roadway to ride as near the right-hand side as is practicable, exercising due care when passing a standing vehicle or one moving the same direction. Subsection B bars bicycles from any street where the Village has erected signs prohibiting bicycle operation there. Subsection C is the key bike-lane provision: cyclists on a roadway may not ride other than single file, except on paths or the parts of a roadway set aside for the exclusive use of bicycles, meaning a genuine bicycle lane is where riding two abreast becomes lawful.

Subsection D flips that into a mandate: whenever a usable bicycle path has been provided adjacent to a roadway, riders must use that path and are barred from using the roadway instead. These rules sit inside Article 2 of Chapter 15, which also makes cyclists subject to the general rules of the road under Section 15-2-3, bans sidewalk riding in the business district and for anyone 15 or older under Section 15-2-6, and requires bicycles to carry a bell, headlamp and reflectors under Section 15-2-11. Article 2 carries no standalone fine schedule of its own, so an infraction of Section 15-2-7 falls back on the Village's general penalty provision.