WAUPUN — The Waupun City Council discussed potential changes to the city’s bicycle ordinance at Tuesday’s City Council meeting.
Police Chief Jeremy Rasch introduced the issue to the Council with concerns about children over the age of 10 and even adults riding in the street while normal traffic is speeding by.
“As a Police Chief and as a father I don’t feel that’s safe,” Rasch said. “Our roads are busy, the bike lanes are right next to traffic. I wouldn’t even feel safe riding a bicycle on Main Street next to traffic like that.”
The current bicycle ordinance prohibits people older than 10 years old from riding bicycles and other small vehicles on the sidewalk and does not cover electric bikes, which are growing in popularity.
Rasch recommended that the Council remove the age restriction on riding bicycles on the sidewalk. The change would still require cyclists to give pedestrians the right of way, but would allow anyone of any age to ride their bike out of traffic where possible. He also recommended that the ordinance prohibit the riding of bikes on the sidewalk in the downtown business district where there is increased pedestrian foot traffic—requiring cyclists to dismount or use the dedicated bike lanes.
Mayor of Waupun Rohn Bishop chimed in, saying that living on a busy road can be especially worrying because of how fast cars are going. Bishop speaks from experience as a father of two elementary students living on Brandon St not far from the Main St intersection and the Rock River bridge.
Rasch also requested some direction on whether electric bikes and scooters should be allowed on public sidewalks due to their ability to get much higher speeds. Electric bikes and scooters are becoming more popular, especially among the older generations that need some assistance in getting up to speed or climbing steep hills.
While there are some state statutes on electrically motorized vehicles, the City does not have an ordinance restricting their use. The issue with writing an ordinance on small electric vehicles is that the definition is very broad—covering from small kid’s Razor e-scooters to a full-mobility handicap motorized scooter. Some electric scooters can allegedly also get up to speeds of 60MPH, which they agreed was absolutely not safe in City limits.
The City Council discussed a variety of potential solutions, including raising the maximum age to 15, limiting the speed of riding on sidewalks, and more. The biggest problem with enforcing a speed limit on these types of small electric vehicles is that most don’t have a speedometer, so many riders might not even know how fast they’re really going.
City Attorney Dan Vande Zande pointed out that Waupun isn’t the only community that is dealing with this issue, and that no one wants to be walking down the street and almost get hit by someone riding their bike at 15MPH or even 30MPH.
Alderman Pete Kaczmarski asked Vande Zande about the potential verbiage in an ordinance, and whether it could specify who gets the right of way. Vande Zande described some potential scenarios, including where cyclists warn pedestrians in front of them that they’re riding by using a bell.
After more discussion on the speed of riding on sidewalks, they came to the conclusion of limiting speed to 10MPH at all times on 4-foot sidewalks. Alderman Dan Siebers suggested it could be higher on 5-foot walk paths, such as the Meadow View Heights Boardwalk and the Pine Street Park path. But both would still require cyclists to slow or go around pedestrians.
Alderman Jason Westphal said he was personally against riding on the sidewalks, but conceded that safety concerns were legitimate with riding in the road on busy streets.
The Council discussed various safety issues, including speeding, cyclists not wearing helmets, and having child carriers hooked to e-bikes.
“If nothing else I would like to see the age raised on the ordinance from ten to something,” said Mayor Bishop. “I’m not sure how [Chief Rasch] would enforce that—because how do you know if a kid is ten or twelve—but especially on the main thoroughfares I don’t want my kids riding on the street. The bike lanes look great and all but I’d rather my kids be on the sidewalk.”
Westphal asked Rasch if the Waupun Police Department still sells bicycle licenses, which they don’t typically, but they did sign up a bunch of kids at the Bicycle Rodeo event they held earlier this year. Westphal asked why they have a large section devoted to licenses if they don’t use it, to which he didn’t have an answer.
Once the discussion was concluded, City Administrator Kathy Schlieve summarized the discussion for how they will draft the ordinance. Since it was just a discussion item there was no action taken at the meeting and the topic will be revisited at a future meeting.
The new ordinance will likely cover all manner of small vehicles including bicycles, scooters, skateboards, and all electric variants.
Immediately following the discussion on the bicycle ordinance they reviewed the ordinance pipeline, which currently includes the dog leash ordinance, public art, tires, and more. Several were also moved into the “completed” category, including the sexting ordinance, truancy, and food trucks.
