More Bike Parking Needed at Waterfront

GM was down by the waterfront this weekend and noticed the unfortunate site you see above: bikes locked to trees. Seriously people: don’t do this. It’s really bad for the trees and cause damage which itself could invite disease and ultimately the demise of the tree.

So please don’t do this.

But, when you see people making this poor decision, it’s important to ask why. And the clear answer is that there’s not enough bike parking at the park.

There are a couple nice racks at the far ends of the park, but they are too far away from the center of the park, where most people, including bikers, enter the park. There is not enough street furniture to provide alternative bike security, so people end up making this bad decision.

No, we can’t have bike racks in every conceivable place a biker might want to disembark, but one more in the center of the park is not asking too much.

This brings up another issue that GM doesn’t feel like getting into today, which is the role and place for bikes in the park. But regardless of your position on whether bikes should be ridden in the park, we should all agree that making it easier to park your bike and walk into the park is a worthy objective.