Dubuque, IA Public Conduct: Skateboarding Rules (2026)

Section 9-7-321.276 of the Dubuque City Code, titled Use Of Certain Nonmotorized Vehicles, Conveyances, And Equipment In Municipal Parking Ramps Or Lots And In Certain Other Places In City, flatly bars roller skates, skateboards, bicycles, and other wheeled recreational vehicles or conveyances from any municipal parking ramp or municipal parking lot. The ban carries two built-in exceptions: it does not reach a wheelchair or similar conveyance used for transportation by a disabled person, and it does not reach a wagon a pedestrian pulls at walking speed.

Beyond the parking ramp and lot ban, subsection C gives the city manager standing authority to designate and post signs closing additional areas of the city to skateboarding, skating, and riding a bicycle or scooter; once a sign goes up under that authority, skateboarding in the signed area becomes unlawful. Subsection B separately keeps skateboards and other wheeled conveyances, other than bicycles, off the roadway portion of any right of way, though a person may cross in a marked or unmarked crosswalk, and anyone crossing outside a crosswalk falls instead under the city's crosswalk-use rule at section 9-8-321.328.

The section exempts skateboarding done as part of a permitted parade, exhibition, or gathering authorized by the city manager. Subsection E sets a scheduled fine of twenty five dollars ($25.00) for any violation of the section, the same flat fine the code uses for the adjoining park-use and electric personal assistive mobility device violations in this division. The rule sits in Title 9, Motor Vehicles And Traffic, and reads as a location-based restriction rather than a citywide skateboarding ban: skateboarding on an ordinary city sidewalk or street outside a posted zone or parking facility is not reached by this section.