YAY- bike racks for my little town!

OOOOOHHH, I'm so thrilled!
I just came from a town meeting. Our town has had it's MainSt torn up and closed for a couple of months now, they are digging up and replacing all the old sewage pipes and storm drains, putting in new curbs and sidewalks, etc.

I had been watching the progress and I called the project manager and found out there were plans to put two bikes racks on Main St- one at either end of the busy street, on grassy areas. That's what I figured they would do.
BUT- nothing in the middle of main street, where all the stores and cafes are. :( No way I or many other cyclists I know are going to lock our bikes and then go have lunch a block away where we can't see our bikes at all. Bikes do get stolen here on occasion, their cable locks cut while no one is nearby. And DH and I have both had things stolen off our bikes when we weren't around them. In our town, we actually don't have street signs or parking meters or other convenient things to lock our bikes to- and the businesses naturally don't like us locking them to their fences or stair railings. It's been a problem for a while.

So I googled some articles and pictures of discreet urban bike racks that don't take up much sidewalk space (inverted U pipes, little 'circle' racks) and presented it to the board at the meeting. Just as I suspected, they all envisioned "bike racks" as only those giant things you see in front of schools. They were impressed at how small and efficient well placed little rack/posts can be. I explained how this would encourage more local people to bike into town, where parking is very congested already, and how it would eliminate bikes being locked all over the place in the way. They agreed that there were going to be more and more people riding bikes in our current economy.

Then I was done and....they actually said they thought it would be a great idea to install some and wanted me to gather info for them on several available types, manufacturers, and prices and give them recommendations as to placement and number of racks! :eek: This I totally did not expect.

I'm so excited!!! YAY!!!!!!!

I can't believe I could make such a difference in my own town just by going and talking for 5 minutes and showing a few googled images! :p :p :p

Way to go B!

this is awesome news! what a great reason to go to a meeting.

Lisa the activist. you for sure are my Sister!

Way to go, Crazy Bike Lady! You just made the world a better place! :)

Congratulations! I'm going to try it in my town next.
Karen

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Originally Posted by BleeckerSt_Girl

OOOOOHHH, I'm so thrilled!
I just came from a town meeting. Our town has had it's MainSt torn up and closed for a couple of months now, they are digging up and replacing all the old sewage pipes and storm drains, putting in new curbs and sidewalks, etc.

I had been watching the progress and I called the project manager and found out there were plans to put two bikes racks on Main St- one at either end of the busy street, on grassy areas. That's what I figured they would do.
BUT- nothing in the middle of main street, where all the stores and cafes are. :( No way I or many other cyclists I know are going to lock our bikes and then go have lunch a block away where we can't see our bikes at all. Bikes do get stolen here on occasion, their cable locks cut while no one is nearby. And DH and I have both had things stolen off our bikes when we weren't around them. In our town, we actually don't have street signs or parking meters or other convenient things to lock our bikes to- and the businesses naturally don't like us locking them to their fences or stair railings. It's been a problem for a while.

So I googled some articles and pictures of discreet urban bike racks that don't take up much sidewalk space (inverted U pipes, little 'circle' racks) and presented it to the board at the meeting. Just as I suspected, they all envisioned "bike racks" as only those giant things you see in front of schools. They were impressed at how small and efficient well placed little rack/posts can be. I explained how this would encourage more local people to bike into town, where parking is very congested already, and how it would eliminate bikes being locked all over the place in the way. They agreed that there were going to be more and more people riding bikes in our current economy.

Then I was done and....they actually said they thought it would be a great idea to install some and wanted me to gather info for them on several available types, manufacturers, and prices and give them recommendations as to placement and number of racks! :eek: This I totally did not expect.

I'm so excited!!! YAY!!!!!!!

I can't believe I could make such a difference in my own town just by going and talking for 5 minutes and showing a few googled images! :p :p :p

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Yay crazy bike lady!! You rock. :D

Great job, Lisa! That will make a huge difference in cycling convenience!!

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Originally Posted by CA_in_NC

Great job, Lisa! That will make a huge difference in cycling convenience!!

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yeah, I want people to know our town is....civilized. :D

Way to go B!!!

Will I get to use them in a couple of weeks?????

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Originally Posted by Crankin

Will I get to use them in a couple of weeks?????

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No, Main street is far from completed. Trees and signs and such won't go in until the fall.
Yikes, we have to arrange our bike meeting soon! :eek: :)

Way to go! I'm trying to find out if there is some sort of bike committee for my city, but so far I haven't found anything. There are no bike racks downtown--and there are a fair number of bicyclists these days (relatively speaking).

One of the leading bike planning firms is Toole Design in Hyattsville, Maryland. Their website has some good links that you might find useful: www.tooledesign.com (I don't work for them, but I did interview with them once. I would have loved to work there but the timing was just not right at the time).

Way to go, Lisa! I'm sure every biker will more than appreciate you stepping up to the plate to get some racks installed. Now I want to come to your town and see them when they're in place (but I'll settle for pictures come fall).

Great job Lisa! Can't wait to see the photos of the finished project.

Yesterday work announced that they're going to install a bike rack and allow bikers and those of us that walk from the train station access to the front of the building. Right now we have to walk through the gates that the fleet trucks drive through (I work for the water company), which isn't very safe. It's a nice gesture to see that they're thinking of us.

Yay, Lisa!

Great Job!!

Lisa, how about you post the research you did so we don't have to recreate? :D

Thanks,
Karen

Way to go! It's always exciting when they throw something back at you and its a GOOD thing! Congrats!

Success! See...being 'crazy bike lady' pays off! ;)

That's really cool, though. You'll have to be sure to post photos of the completed street with the racks when it's done.

I'm excited! Thanks for the lead, Tulip. My DH has a few leads as well.
I know I have a couple of weeks at least to get info together for the village board- no huge rush because they can install them at anytime during the next month or two or three. I figure the Fall will be fine, when they are putting in new trees and signage along the sidewalks.

Yes, I will take before and after pix and yes I will post some links here for others to maybe use when they approach their own town boards.

I don't expect perfection, but they seem open to my suggestions and hopefully the racks will be installed logically (not facing the wrong direction, etc). I want them to see that bikers help the village traffic congestion situation, that we are a friendly and helpful bunch, and simply want to park our bikes in an orderly, efficient, and safe way. :)

I went into that meeting thinking that they would look at me as an annoying bike kook. Instead they welcomed my ideas and asked me to help! :eek: I think being really friendly and talking about how it would improve the village -rather than just complaining- was a big help in getting them on my side. Showing actual pictures of orderly discrete-looking bike racks in use on other town sidewalks really helped too.

This project will likely take several months, because Main Street consruction is still in full swing and bike racks are a finishing touch, but I will certainly post back here when there are updates. I realize now that this thread might well inspire more TE cyclists to do the same in their towns as well. Imagine if another TE'er posted pix here of the racks SHE was responsible for getting installed in HER town too! COOL BEANS.
Thanks for all your kind words. :p