Bike Station Needed Downtown
Brian Spellecy of the blog, Downtown St. Louis Business, recently emailed me about bike stations. He was thinking about one for St. Louis and it got me thinking about one again.
Nearly four years ago on October 14th, 2005 I did a post (Four Flavors for the St. Louis Riverfront) reviewing the four riverfront proposals and their inclusion of a bike station:
All four proposals include a bike station near the Poplar Street Bridge, well under it. The design team showed a picture of the new bike station at Chicago’s Millennium Park as an example. I’ve been to Chicago’s bike station and it is an awesome facility complete with a bike rental area, indoor bike parking, a bike repair shop and a locker rooms complete with showers. Many cities are building bike stations to encourage bike commuting — giving cyclists a way to shower and change clothes before heading into the office. Chicago’s Millennium Park bike station has been criticized as being too far away from their business district. Chicago’s will seem downright close compared to us having a bike station under the PSB.
St. Louis needs a good bike station but the riverfront is not the right location. Somewhere in or near the Central Business District makes the most sense. Who is going to bike to work and then shower and then walk a mile or so to the office? Nobody. Good locations for a bike station do exist — one of the vacant blocks of the failed Gateway Mall or even the location of the pocket park on the Old Post Office Square.
The plaza is already built across from the Old Post Office and it lacks even a bike rack. Scratch that location off the list. Two blocks of the Gateway Mall are now the wonderful Citygarden. Two more blocks off the list of potential sites.
Remaining would be on or under part of the two city blocks that contain Kiener Plaza & the Morton May Amphitheater. This would be an excellent spot for offering bike rentals as well as food & drink sales via a connected kiosk.
Another is under the block containing the ‘Twain’ sculpture by Richard Serra, immediately west of Citygarden. Like Chicago’s Bike Station in Millennium Park, our station could be underground with a simple glass structure above grade. This would add a new level of activity to that block without competing visually with the Twain sculpture.
Of course a bike station can be fitted into an existing structure as well. A bike station provides secure bike parking, lockers, showers and often bike repair services. The idea is to provide a place where workers can bike downtown, shower & change for work. We have a number of buildings with vacant ground floor space that might be well suited for such a role.
The ones I know of are not owned by the municipality — rather they are part of a not-for-profit organization. Some cities likely help out such as getting the facility built and then leasing it to a group that manages the day to day operations.
Ideally we’d determine the center point of the greatest concentration of downtown workers and locate the bike station at that point.
If we want more cyclists/fewer cars downtown providing a bike station is a step in the right direction. A great facility could be viewed by businesses as a bonus to their workers — a reason to stay downtown or to relocate downtown.
– Steve Patterson
Well positioned facilities is a good idea. In addition to downtown, I’d favor more streamlined versions on both the north (near the Metro station) and SW side of Forest Park. Not for the main purpose of facilitating workers but rather visitors who come in motorized vehicles which destroy the Park’s ambience. Ever notice how irritable, irate and angry visitors are to Forest Park on weekends as they struggle with the traffic and attempt to find free parking? Cars should be banned from the Park, let visitors truly enjoy the natural beauty and be served by rental bikes, pedicabs, horse drawn carriages and trolleys.
– –
Get the masses out of their cars and let them learn by experience how much more pleasurable alternatives can be. Then the chances of creating a critical mass for CHANGE is improved.
Any bike facility downtown STL should be managed by Trailnet and utilize an existing vacant storefront and be near Metro. That shouldn’t be a problem, right?
^
I can think of several storefronts that would fit the bill.
I agree wholeheartedly with the statements regarding a proper location for a bike station. I recently moved to Benton park and now bike to my work location downtown (about 3 miles). My employer does not have shower facilities, which is one of the reasons that I did not bike to work from my previous residence in Dogtown (about 7 miles from work). The ride was just long enough to work up a good sweat. In a city like St. Louis where a bicycle commuting culture does not exist, any change will require making things as convenient as possible for people. Another issue for encouraging people to bike to work downtown is that most people who work there don’t live anywhere near downtown, so there is a small pool of possible bike commuters to begin with. I’m not sure how to deal with this latter issue, since it is a symptom of the large maladies concerning the dispersion of the population of the metro area. Of course, making the city more livable and enjoyable (which a bike station would surely do) would be a good step in the right direction.
Providing secure bike parking/lockers at Metrolink stations would be a good start: http://www.rtd-denver.com/Bike_n_Ride.shtml (right-hand tab)
Weird timing. I was just walking past an empty storefront yesterday, and couldn’t help but wonder why we didn’t have a bike shop with the very facilities you mention included.
I agree with John! It would be a major fight to bann cars from the park tho I’m sure. That’s the real problem with St. Louis. People here are just too damn cheap! They’ll spend a half an hour driving around trying to find a parking spot that’s free. Not just ANY spot but a spot that won’t require much walking either. They are also too damn lazy to walk a few blocks.
what about st. louis center??? that is a giant indoor space in the heart of the business district that hasn’t been used in ages.
One is hopefully opening in the early spring, be patient. More to come in the next week or so.
that’s great news!
I totally agree – a bike station with showers is a must for downtown! I’m lucky enough to work for an employer that provides a shower, but most people aren’t. The thing is, if you mention the need for a shower, employers can be surprisingly open to the idea. My last place of employment was considering putting one in, not just for bikers but because many employees like to run at lunchtime and came back all sweaty. Hotels might even be a good place to locate a facility like this, since they already have cleaning staff/supplies on hand and tend to be busy places at all times day/night. An unobtrusive side entrance into a bike facility shouldn’t disrupt business at all, and would sure turn a lot of bikers into lifelong fans of the business willing to sponsor it. Of course, proximity to transit is a key, too!
Working on it. May be opening early fall. Will let you know as it progresses.
“In the know” – can you tell us some details about your shop? There is another shop that I heard might be opening in the spring. I was wondering if this was the same place.
Should be the same place. Looking at downtown location. Public private partnership. Run by either a charity or Metro with a private company running the repair shop and/or cafe. The city is heavily involved and they want to make it happen and then turn it over to the pros. BikeStL, Trailnet and Downtown Partners are involved.
This is VERY exciting news!
DC: http://info.aia.org/aiarchitect/thisweek09/0828/0828n_biketransitcenter.cfm
Any updates on this proposal?
Yes but nothing that can be announced just yet. Soon I hope.
Any updates on this proposal?
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