Upper Darby, PA Mobility & Curb Rules: Bike Lane Rules (2026)

Chapter 231 of the Township Code, adopted in 1955 and carried forward unchanged into the current General Code recodification, is Upper Darby's only bicycle-specific ordinance. It defines a "bicycle" as any device propelled by human power with two tandem wheels, either of which exceeds 16 inches in diameter (§ 231-1), sweeping in adult bikes, most children's bikes and similar human-powered cycles under one rule. The operative restrictions sit in § 231-2. Subsection A bars riding a bicycle on any sidewalk located in a business district or a place of public gathering, meaning commercial corridors like 69th Street and Garrett Road are off-limits to sidewalk cycling even though sidewalk riding may be tolerated on quiet residential streets elsewhere.

Subsection B is a general-duty clause: a cyclist may not operate on a street in a way that interferes with a pedestrian exercising due care, covering close passes, blocking crosswalks and similar conduct even outside a business district. Subsection C addresses the alley, driveway and building-exit scenario directly: a rider emerging onto a sidewalk or the sidewalk area across an alleyway must first yield to pedestrians already on that sidewalk, and once entering the roadway itself, must yield to vehicles already traveling on it. Upper Darby has not adopted a separate on-street bike-lane ordinance, so these three rules are the whole of the Township's cycling-specific traffic code.