Fort Mitchell City Council has signed off on a new set of rules for e-bikes and e-scooters, and the centerpiece is simple: during the busiest minutes of the school day, kids have to get off and walk. The council approved the regulations this week, requiring riders to walk their wheels in the Beechwood Road school zone for 45 minutes before school starts and 45 minutes after it lets out.
The move comes after months of debate that started when council began discussing e-bike regulations back in July, according to FOX19. Beechwood Road sees heavy foot traffic from students walking to and from school, and the new walk-your-wheels requirement is meant to ease that congestion and cut down on close calls between riders and pedestrians. City officials have framed the rule as part of a broader push, with LINK nky reporting that the measure is meant to further strengthen pedestrian safety along major roadways in the city.
Faster E-Bikes and E-Motos Banned From Sidewalks
Beyond the school-zone rule, the ordinance draws a hard line on which vehicles can use city sidewalks at all. Fort Mitchell is banning Class 3 e-bikes, which can reach up to 28 miles per hour, and e-motos, which can hit speeds as high as 60 miles per hour, from every sidewalk in the city, per the same LINK nky report. For the vehicles still allowed on sidewalks, riders now have to wear helmets, use lights and noisemakers, yield to pedestrians and keep their speed under 15 miles per hour.
Fort Mitchell Mayor Greg Pohlgeers said the city is coordinating directly with Beechwood Independent Schools on the rollout. According to LINK nky, Pohlgeers is working with Superintendent Justin Kaiser, who supports the new measure.
Residents Split Between More Rules and an Outright Ban
Not everyone thinks the new rules go far enough. Fort Mitchell residents raised concerns that children speed through narrow streets and ignore regulations already on the books, the station's report notes, and some residents want e-bikes banned altogether. One resident said speed limits are tough to enforce given how small the police department is, while another argued that widening sidewalks is the best fix for the underlying problem.
Mayor Pohlgeers pushed back on the idea that sidewalk widening is a response to the e-bike debate, telling FOX19 that the project is not a direct response to e-bikes and e-scooters. He added that the city would still consider widening sidewalks even if e-bikes and e-scooters were outlawed entirely. Separately, the Northern Kentucky Tribune has reported that Fort Mitchell is pursuing a sidewalk-widening project along Dixie Highway down to Beechwood Road, a project officials have described independent of the new riding rules.
Pohlgeers also said police have observed more children wearing helmets since the city's earlier 2024 e-scooter ordinance took effect, which first updated the city's bicycle, motorcycle and scooter laws to address risks officials tied specifically to e-bikes and e-scooters. Council members have signaled they may consider more restrictive regulations down the line if additional restrictions become necessary.
Other Northern Kentucky Cities Watching Closely
Fort Mitchell is not alone in grappling with this issue. WCPO reports that Kenton County leaders may soon be taking cues from Fort Mitchell, with Alexandria, Fort Thomas, Florence and Union all considering their own e-bike regulations. Covington, meanwhile, has launched a study on improving pedestrian safety around e-scooters and e-bikes near schools, and WCPO notes the city is weighing a walk-your-wheels approach similar to Fort Mitchell's. Covington's current ordinance already bars scooters from city sidewalks altogether.
Boone County officials are also examining potential e-bike and e-scooter regulations as residents raise safety concerns, according to LINK nky. Elsewhere in the state, Nicholasville's e-bike and e-scooter ordinance calls for extra caution during school arrival and dismissal times, a provision similar in spirit to what Fort Mitchell just adopted near Beechwood School.
