West Des Moines, IA Mobility & Curb Rules: Bike Lane Rules (2026)

City Code section 6-11-10, Bicycle Lanes, sits in chapter 11's bicycle rules alongside operating requirements in sections 6-11-5 through 6-11-9 covering lamp and reflector equipment, safe stopping distance, a ban on sirens and whistles, and obedience to traffic signals. Subsection A lets a cyclist ride within a marked bicycle lane while moving in the same direction as traffic. Subsection B lets a rider leave the lane to overtake and pass another bicycle, vehicle, or pedestrian in or about to enter the lane, but only when it cannot be done safely from inside the lane.

Subsection C bars leaving the lane until the movement can be made safely and only after signaling. Subsection D bars driving a motor vehicle in an established bicycle lane except to park where parking is allowed, to enter or leave the roadway, or to prepare for a turn within two hundred feet (200') of an intersection. The chapter's special penalty in section 6-11-13 departs from the code's standard fine schedule: instead of a dollar fine, a violator may have a bicycle impounded by the city for not less than five (5) days on a first offense, ten (10) days on a second offense, and thirty (30) days on a third offense. All of chapter 11's bicycle sections, including the lane rule, trace to Ordinance 1941, adopted December 27, 2011.