Alert reader Julie has a question:

I’d like to know what the “rules” are for walkers on a path that is also part of a bike path. On the street, walkers are supposed to walk on the left facing the traffic. On the bike/walking path, people mostly walk on the right so that bikers have to go around them and walkers are not always aware of approaching bikers.

I’ve been walking on the right because everyone else does, but have been startled sometimes when bikers or skaters go whizzing past me. A very few will say, ‘On your left’ when they approach, but not very many. If I’m listening to music I can’t always hear them. Is there a rule for this? I would think it would be safer to face the traffic like on city streets but know it would be hard to change the habits of walkers already established. Thanks!

Shared paths sure can be exciting, but Julie appears to be doing the right thing. Here’s what the regulations from the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board say:

PB7.5-5. Duty to keep to the right. Persons using the pathways shall remain upon the right half of the pathway except when overtaking and passing another user proceeding in the same direction.

The rest of the city code covering “Pathway Use” can be found via a link on this page — scroll down past Appendix J and look for Chapter 7.5. If you have any thoughts about the rules or advice for Julie, please do share below.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 8th, 2008 at 2:29 pm and is filed under Main. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.