Item 5A. E-Bike Use and Trail Safety Communication
Superintendent's Recommendation:
NO ACTION REQUIRED; THIS ITEM IS FOR INFORMATION AND DISCUSSION.
Prepared By: Danny McCullough, Regional Trail System Manager
Background:
Staff are receiving increasing complaints regarding e-bike use on Three Rivers trails, specifically on regional trails in the western communities around Lake Minnetonka. Common complaints and concerns include:
- High speeds/safety concerns
- Youth safety - underage riding
- Disregard for other trail users
To address these items, staff have been proactively communicating with our city and community partners. At the request of the City of Wayzata, Three Rivers staff attended a West Metro Police Chief's meeting in March to learn more about specific e-bike issues affecting their communities, and to discuss solutions through education and coordinated public communication efforts this spring. On-going and increased enforcement efforts by both Three Rivers Park Police and local authorities has been taking place and will likely continue through summer.
Three Rivers committed to following up with additional communication tools to help support communities and ensure consistent messaging. This includes:
- Sharing a communication tool kit to assist local cities with social and public media releases (See Attached: Ebike Spring/Summer 25)
- Ensuring our local partners have a strong understanding of e-bike laws/state statutes (See Attached: E-bikes FAQ)
- Coordinating social media announcements across the region to ensure consistent messaging around state statutes and ordinances related to e-bike use
Additionally, the Park District continues to include signage along the regional trail system reminding users of trail rules and to respect other trail users when operating an e-bike.
A brief presentation has been prepared to review some of the recent changes to local ordinances and state statutes around e-bike use.
Relationship to the System Plan:
The Request for Action supports the following goal(s) of the System Plan:
Goal 1: You Belong Here
Goal 2: Parks Matter
Goal 3: Lead by Example
Attachments:
