LANSING, Mich.—Mackinac Island doesn’t have cars. But it might soon have stricter speed limits.
The Michigan Senate voted overwhelmingly this week to set speed restrictions on the roadway that encircles the island, one of the state’s top tourist destinations, to try to combat the rise of electric bikes that can go as fast as 28 mph.
Cars and trucks are generally and famously not allowed on Mackinac Island. Yet, the eight-mile roadway around the island, M-185, is considered a state highway, meaning lawmakers can institute the speed limit. Under Michigan law, the speed limit on state highways where a limit is not posted is 55 mph.
In the island’s business district, under the proposal, the limit would be 10 mph.
Electric bikes, or e-bikes as they’re commonly known, have become a “real problem” on the island, said Sen. John Damoose, R-Harbor Springs, the sponsor of the new bill to make the speed limit on most of the M-185 loop 15 mph.
“This is a narrow road that has horses and walkers and kids, and kids that are riding bikes with training wheels, and tourists staring at everything,” Damoose said. “You can’t have people going that fast.”
The Michigan Senate voted 31-5 Tuesday in favor of Damoose’s bill. It will now go to the Michigan House for consideration.
Damoose is hoping the new speed limits for Mackinac Island will be in place by the start of the tourism season, which starts in May. More than 1 million people visit Mackinac Island each year, according to the island’s tourism bureau. About 500 people live on the island year-round, the bureau says.
M-185 is the only highway in the United States where cars are prohibited, according to the nonpartisan Senate Fiscal Agency.
Mackinac Island already has a general ban on e-bikes with a throttle, but it’s proven difficult for local officials to enforce.
An e-bike connected to a carrying cart is parked on Main Street outside of Bicycle Street Inn and Suites on Mackinac Island.
The current e-bike ban exempts residents and visitors with a “mobility disability,” allowing them to operate a Class 1 pedal-assist bicycle or tricycle with an electric motor that kicks in while a person is pedaling. Certain health conditions that create “a physical impairment that substantially limits the ability of the individual to pedal a bicycle” qualify for the exemption, according to Mackinac Island city code.
The city code’s exemption for e-bike use includes individuals who cannot walk without use of a cane or wheelchair or “cannot walk 200 feet without stopping to rest,” according to the code.
“We’re not trying to limit anybody who absolutely needs this because of accessibility reasons,” said Tim Hygh, executive director of the Mackinac Island Tourism Bureau.
But fast-moving e-bikes propelled by motors while the rider is not pedaling have become a danger on the island as riders weave between pedestrians and horses pulling wagons and carriages, Hygh said. On a recent workday, several workers preparing for the season ahead appeared to be on e-bikes to get around the island.
“They just don’t mix well,” he said.
Hygh said Mackinac Island property owners also have “grave concerns” about e-bike battery fires, given how combustible much of the historic island’s structures are.
“It’s just not a good fit for the island with all of our older homes and older buildings,” he said.
Mackinac Island Police Chief Douglas Topolski said if the new legislation passes, the speed limit on Grand Hill, near the Grand Hotel, would also likely be set at 10 mph.
“And we’ll be out there enforcing it,“ he said. ”Yes, we might write some tickets—that’s a really busy area, and we’ve had some serious accidents there, some life-changing injuries.
“Our main traffic conflicts are Main Street downtown and the hill. That’s where the most serious injuries have occurred.”
Construction workers ride e-bikes up the dock toward downtown on Mackinac Island, Thursday, April 18, 2024.
More than 80 percent of the island is considered state park land where Michigan State Police and a deputized park ranger can enforce the existing ban on e-bikes, said Dominick Miller, chief of marketing for Mackinac State Historic Parks.
“For us, it’s to keep within the character of Mackinac Island and ... the absence of motor vehicles is key in retaining that character,” Miller said. “We want to try to preserve the historic character there while allowing for folks who do need them an opportunity to use them.”
Miller said the use of e-bikes is not a “major issue” but that people do use them. He hopes the state legislation, if passed, would dissuade them from doing so. He added that it’s usually a combination of tourists and locals that use e-bikes.
“It’s unfortunate that people, I think, have maybe taken advantage of e-bikes on Mackinac Island at times,” Miller said. “So, we want to try to preserve that historic character.”
