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

Section 13-37, Safety, adopted May 6, 2019 as part of Article III governing the Thermal Belt Rail Trail, sets three riding rules rather than leaving trail conduct to informal custom. Subsection (a) fixes a flat 15 mph speed limit for the whole trail and states plainly that "any usage of the trail in excess of said speed is prohibited," with no separate limit for bicycles, e-bikes or pedestrians. Subsection (b) requires any child under 16 riding a bicycle on the trail to wear a helmet, cross-referencing the state's own youth bicycle helmet law, G.S.

20-171. Subsection (c) requires every trail user, on wheels or on foot, to stop at all street crossings before continuing, addressing the several road intersections the corridor crosses through Rutherfordton, Spindale and Forest City. These speed and stopping rules sit alongside the trail's other conduct provisions in section 13-39, which bars most motorized vehicles from the corridor entirely and limits it to human-powered and small electric-assist devices. Because the trail is the only paved shared-use corridor the county code specifically regulates for riding conduct, section 13-37 functions as Rutherford County's bike-lane rule for that facility; the code contains no separate on-road bicycle-lane obstruction ordinance for county roads outside the trail.