future on-street bike parking.
(Photos: Marcus Griffith)
By the end of this year, transportation planners with the City of Vancouver plan to have their first-ever on-street bike parking corral. The new bike parking is slated to be installed in front of Angst Gallery at 11th and Main Streets (maps).
The owner of the gallery, Leah Jackson, requested the bike parking. According to Jackson, there’s currently only one bike rack on the entire block. “I will be very excited to have it [the new parking]… as I currently lock to a planter box and my son uses a street sign.” (Jackson’s son happens to be the young man who led a ride to protest Vancouver’s all-ages mandatory helmet law back in March 2008.)
A BikePortland tipster photographed two City of Vancouver employees — Senior Transportation Planner Jennifer Campos and Senior Engineering Technician Terri Elioff — taking measurements at the site last Friday.
When we contacted Campos, she confirmed that the bike parking was in the works. Campos said it will be a “test area” and that the location they’ve chosen is “a block where we have a high need for bike parking.” Another reason the location was chosen is because it is not currently being used as a motor vehicle parking spot.
(Photo © J. Maus)
Campos said they plan to install four staple racks (enough to fit eight bicycles) using the same design as the on-street “bike corrals” that are popping up all over Portland (the City of Portland has shared installation details and standards with Campos).
The new bike parking will be paid for through a federal Congestion and Air Quality Management Program (CMAQ) grant. The project is part of a larger effort by the City of Vancouver to promote non single-occupancy vehicle trips into downtown through their Destination Downtown project.
Vancouver resident and everyday bike rider Marcus Griffith is excited about the project. “It may seem like a small step, but considering it is Vancouver’s first step towards on-street bike parking, it is a step worth supporting.”
Excitement for bicycling is building in Vancouver. Last week we brought you word of over $300,000 in bikeway improvements in an around the I-5 bridge being planned by the City of Vancouver. The city’s grassroots bike advocacy scene is also blossoming as the fledgling Bike Me! group begins to mature and tackle more issues.
Learn more about bicycling in Vancouver on the City’s bike information webpage.
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Way to go Leah! Vancouver would be a cold place for bicyclists if it wasn’t for the great work of you and your family. When does the next gallery show open?
park and ride your bikes on the sidewalk…nobody walks anymore.
Except that Portland’s corrals have held many more bikes than eight (even if you halve the space typically taken). Glad to see the Couv making some strides, but they’d get more ROI if they put in a couple more staples than that.
Jonathan
Thanks for the coverage of bike happenings in Vancouver. Bike Me! Vancouver is encouraging the participation in and awareness of city cycling through education, advocacy and (most importantly) fun. We’ve partnered with Jennifer’s program at the City of Vancouver on providing event bike parking at concerts at Esther Short Park (Vancouver’s city square) and other events. These were great opportunities to provide encouragement, advice and route finding to folks just discovering the fun of riding around town. Interestingly enough we also answered lots of questions from non-cyclists about safety, comfort, motor vehicle/bicycle interactions and cycling law.
Bike Me! Vancouver meets the 4th Wed of the month, 6:30pm at Wallis Engineering, 4th and Columbia, just a block north of the I-5 Bridge. (Shameless plug)
OBTW Jennifer is actually a Senior Transportation Planner – Bicycle and Pedestrian programs.
The location for the possible new on-street bike rack is great: it serves a bike busy area and helps increase ped saftey. For those not familiar with the spot, it is currently a no parking area due to a nearby crosswalk. bike racks won’t impede the line of sight for drivers, but will stop the chronic illegally parking there that does block a driver sight to the crosswalk.
It is an awesome first step that should be supported.
huge!
On street bike racks in Portland had a iffy start but quickly grew popular. Likewise, with support, the on street bike racks in Vancouver can quickly multiply.
I am impressed with what Leah and Marcus are doing for Vancouver’s bike community. Leah’s leadership of Bike Me! is positioning the group as a serious political power in Vancouver. Marcus’s prolonged and intense battle with the Vancouver police over bike rights changed the entire manner in which the Vancouver police handle drivers who hit cyclists on the road way. And their doing it all without support of the BTA.
I am glad to see our little neighbor to the north is not just a bedroom community anymore.
Nice to see Vancouver is making headway! Nice job Leah.
Everyone give out some early halloween candy to Lean Jackson and Jennifer Campos for reaching the mile stone of Vancouver’s first street bike rack!!! Enough rally support and maybe the city will put ones in other needed spots: Esther Short Park, Bad Monkey Bikes, Mon Ami…. lets keep this ball rolling
Way to go Vancouver!
Congrats to Jennifer and Terri for setting up this first in-street bike parking zone!!!
Cheerio from Canterbury England.
Carl,
Openings are the First Friday of every month. Of course when the bike parking goes in we will have to celebrate…..
ribbons, champagne, hats, and bells!
So when is the corner of 26th and Clinton getting its three corrals?
Hart (#11) – That would be an excellent question to ask at the city’s Bicycle Advisory Committee meeting next Tuesday (the 13th). 6pm at City Hall in the Lovejoy Room upstairs.
Congratulations to everyone that was involved in the initiative and work required to create Vancouver’s first bike corral !!!
Double gold stars to the leadership of Bike Me! Vancouver and the involved staff of the City of Vancouver’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Program.
It’s shocking that such a small task requires such a large effort.
Hey Peejay: the process for doing ANYTHING with changing streets can take a huge effort to get through all the red tape and design review. The resident’s in the ‘couv deserve credit for making the effort to get the city to install the bike racks.
As Adam pointed out, our little brother town to the north has been plugging away with bike issues without any noticeable support from the BTA. We should encourage them whenever possible.
I live in Vancouver and and frequently frustrated by the shortage of bike racks downtown. There never seems to be one open, unless of course one counts parking meters as de facto bike racks, in which case, there are always a few open.
To Peejay…
As previously mentioned doing anything ‘new’ in the street [for the non motoring public] does take a long time…it is different…it has to have an outside supporter (business owner + property owner)…there has to be a felt need being addressed and there has to be funding.
Also in its favor has been the work Leah 🙂 has done with downtown business and parking advocacy with the Vancouver Downtown Association.
This is a case of long internal conversations (4+ years) within CoV transportation to be ready to do this. The stars have aligned for this one to move forward…
…it also helped greatly that no car parking is underthreat and Portland’s long positive experience with this type of parking has made it easier to implement.
Not intended as criticism. Kudos to the hard work everyone has done on that project. But, maybe, number two might come about with less effort.
Vancouver has cheaper rent, no state income tax and now bike parking? hmmmm… I might just have to move across the river.
Thanks Jonathan for getting the word out about this.
Great job BIKE ME! The time and effort that was needed to get this done, shows a grand commitment. Want to help, see ya at the gallery.
Whoo hoo!