New Civil Courts Plazas Lack Bike Racks
After a number of years the new plazas and landscaping on the East and West entrances to the Civil Courts building are finally done. The material choices are nice as are the plantings. Numerous benches are provided for waiting jurors. But one thing is missing…
Bike racks.
How can we expect property owners to make provisions for bicycle parking when the city doesn’t do so on its own projects?
In the city’s new 2005-2009 Consolidated Plan Strategy the city makes very little mention of bicycling.
Looking at the Transportation (5.7mb PDF) section of Chapter 7 (Public Services, Facilities and Infrastructure) I found a small mention in the list of transportation recommendations:
“#13 – Increase the attraction of downtown for bicycle commuters.
Chicago is planning to build a large bicycle facility downtown where commuters can store their bike, have repairs made, take a shower, rent a locker, and have refreshments. It is one of many steps Chicago has taken to make downtown bicycle friendly. The City of St. Louis should explore a similar facility, possibly partnered with a downtown corporation. Increased bike lanes are also needed Downtown.”
That’s it? Eleven pages on transportation for the entire city and all bicycling gets is a pie in the sky dream of a downtown bike facility? Chicago was able to make their facility work because they’ve spent a number of years nurturing & building the bicycle community. They’ve installed thousands of bike racks throughout the city. The Chicago Department of Transportation has a special website called Chicago Bikes where they communicate all things cycling in Chicago. Through the site citizens can request a rack anywhere in the city. Chicago installs over 750 racks per year. I doubt we have a total of 75 public bike racks in the City of St. Louis.
Yes, a downtown bicycle facility with covered parking and shower facilities would be welcomed. I just think it is a down the road idea. We’ve got several basic steps before such a facility should be considered. Installing a few racks in front of the Civil Courts building would be a good start.
– Steve