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Edina council repeals sidewalk ban for electric‑assist bikes, asks staff to review in one year
Summary
After months of complaints and outreach, the Edina City Council voted to repeal a 2025 ban on electric‑assist bicycles on sidewalks and approved summary publication of Ordinance 2026‑07. Council asked staff to track complaints and crash data and return with a one‑year review.
The Edina City Council voted May 5 to repeal the city’s ban on electric‑assist bicycles on sidewalks, adopting Ordinance 2026‑07 and asking staff to report back with safety and compliance metrics in one year. The change removes the local prohibition on e‑bikes appearing in the 2025 code while preserving other existing safety rules, including helmet requirements for younger riders.
City staff told the council that complaint volume spiked in 2025 after the original ordinance and that education and outreach reduced complaints through the winter. “The available data indicates that there’s minimal impact to pedestrian safety should e‑bikes be allowed in the same space as pedestrians,” said Andrew Scipione of city staff, who presented the proposal and the Department of Public Safety crash data used to evaluate risk.
Council members debated tradeoffs between pedestrian conflicts on narrow sidewalks and the higher‑severity risk e‑bike riders face on busy arterials. Mayor Hovland summarized that choice as “sidewalks trade many small risks to pedestrians for fewer but potentially fatal risk to riders,” and said he supported a one‑year follow‑up to evaluate local outcomes before taking further steps.
Supporters, including some seniors and families who use e‑bikes to carry children and cargo, said the change will preserve mobility for people who feel unsafe riding in traffic. Opponents warned that sidewalks — many of them roughly 5 feet wide in Edina — can concentrate conflicts between pedestrians and faster devices.
The council passed the ordinance and approved summary publication. Members asked staff to calendar a one‑year compliance and safety review and to continue targeted education (school outreach, social media, sidewalk signage) aimed at youth and parents. The city also noted pending state action clarifying classifications of faster e‑moto vehicles, which the council said could affect local enforcement later.
The ordinance change takes effect after summary publication; the council asked staff to return with a report on complaint tallies, any reported crashes involving pedestrians or bicyclists, citations issued, and outreach metrics at the one‑year mark.
