Rochester to allow golf carts on city streets

ROCHESTER – Golf carts will go off-course and on-road here within the next few months as the city gears up to allow them on most streets.

The Rochester City Council voted 5-1 this past week to make it legal to drive the carts on streets with speed limits at 25 mph or less. The proposed ordinance will go through two more readings at future public meetings before it goes into effect.

“We’re allowing other things within our city streets like electric bicycles and things like that,” Council member Patrick Keane said, noting golf carts fall into the city’s mission to provide more transportation options.

It’s been more than a year since council members proposed staff create an ordinance, joining numerous other cities in Minnesota allowing golf carts on roadways.

Minnesota has had guidelines for cities to regulate carts and other kinds of off-road vehicles for decades: Only operate between sunrise and sunset. Don’t drive on roads with speed limits above 35 mph. Don’t drive in bad weather. Your cart is going to be treated like a motor vehicle, so obey all traffic laws.

Many communities, including Rochester, typically allow golf carts on streets to get to and from golf courses. Communities that allow carts on other public roads also typically require insurance and local permits.

Rochester would be the largest city in the state to allow golf carts, though Duluth also has an ordinance. Under Rochester’s ordinance, golf carts would be allowed on more than 4 out of 5 streets within the city.

It’s unlikely many people would apply for permits and the city may not stringently enforce the new rules, according to Sam Budzyna, Rochester traffic and parking manager. Yet it’s also unlikely the city will face many traffic issues related to golf carts.

“We’re not going to get a lot of enforcement of this,” Budzyna said. “There’s a lot of other summertime priorities for [Rochester police].”

Rochester had issued only three permits under existing golf cart rules when the council took up the issue last year, leading some critics to question whether an ordinance is truly needed.

City staff found only 30 golf cart-related traffic accidents in Minnesota over the past 10 years, including one fatality on a rural Rice County road — the roadway has a 55 mph limit and a drunk driver hit the cart. The only other car-related crash involved a vehicle sideswiping a golf cart in Hayfield. All others involved carts hitting stationary objects or other cars or utility vehicles, among other issues.

Some council members were concerned golf carts would slow traffic, while others wondered whether the city had thought through safety issues.

“I just worry about the children,” council member Molly Dennis said. “Without regulation, without enforcement, it’s a concern for safety.”

Dennis was the lone voice against the ordinance.

Budzyna noted most areas that would allow golf carts were naturally cordoned off by highways, rivers or other obstacles. Residents could take golf carts to the grocery store, but cart drivers can’t leave neighborhoods to get across town.

“It’s quite handy for individuals going short distances,” Council President Brooke Carlson said. “It provides a different way that doesn’t require much fuel to get around.”