My thoughts on Wellington West Bike Corral
Photo from CTV news story here: http://ottawa.ctvnews.ca/bike-corral-battle-brews-in-wellington-west-1.1970287
For those are don’t know, there is a bike corral in front of the Wellington Gastro Pub (1325 Wellington Street West). There is another further east in Hintonburg and there is another in The Glebe. Note that this is a City initiative and not the Gastro Pub’s doing.
Full disclosure: I am a cyclist. I support cycling. I also own a business and support my fellow business owners.
So, how do I feel about these bike corrals?
The question: Is trading one car parking spot for 12 secure bike parking spots a good idea?
The argument in favour: This will encourage people to use bikes which is good because it decreases traffic, and increases general health. Laudable goals.
Here is where I am a skeptic, though. This is only parking for twelve bikes. Our street has LOTS of bike lock up spots on the sidewalk that are rarely used. One should be careful with one’s conclusion. A full bike corral does not mean there has been any increase in bike traffic. A full bike corral does not necessarily mean there is a need (something can be “nice to have but not needed”). 12 bikes is a small number and it’s possible that these are simply 12 bikes that would otherwise be parked elsewhere are now parked in the corral. In other words, usage does not necessarily mean this is a success. Be careful about leaping to that conclusion.
Will it increase cycling in the area? Personally, I doubt it. The biggest barrier to cycling down Wellington is the width of the street, parking, and two lanes of traffic. You have to be pretty hard core to cycle this strip. I do it. But, I would not want to ride Wellington with a family of young kids, for instance. I doubt that the addition of a bike corral will add to usage. If you want to increase the usage of bikes I think you need to increase the comfort and safety of riders when they are riding – not when they are locking up.
So, I am not saying “no.” I am saying, I doubt it’s of much benefit. And, I am asking that we make sure we are examining the correct data when determining if this is a success or not.
Oh… and if there is to be permanent bike corrals I would like to request one in front of The Flying Banzini as it will make my sidewalk sort of more pleasant. I like bikes.
Thank you for stepping up Dave. It is too easy to draw conclusions in this way. I am a walker, cyclist then driver and would prefer that the parking space be returned and that the bike corrals be reassigned to another communal space. As you have noted, there is a lot of bike parking along the sidewalks. It does very little for those looking to cycle.
re family cycling - that’s a whole other food group. Family cycling needs to be reviewed - city streets are not necessarily the option for wobbly kids. Nor are sidewalks for that matter. (I think cyclists need better education about road safety to begin with. That is for another discussion.)
Typically family cycling is recreational, not commuter-minded. I would suggest that the collective ‘we’ need to have chats about seasonal commuter lanes (spring, summer and fall) that have better protection for the cyclist, both from vehicles and from a personal safety standpoint (muggings and attacks are not high in Ottawa, I still have a small fear of using the trails alone).
My biggest fear is that someone is going to get seriously hurt, Wellington St west is not a viable bicycle route, the road isn’t wide enough to support cars, busses & bikes..
There are 2 bike paths (Byron & Scott) that run parralell to Wellington as well as using Armstrong as an alternative route that wouldn’t interfere with an already congested street..
The fact that the BIA ignored concerns from the few of us that knew it was coming is what really irks me, 14 businesses in the area supported the idea, 14 out of 400 & the BIA felt no responsibility to inform the businesses as a group to the idea.
It rained yesterday & I saw 1 bike in the corral, on a sunny day there is on average (I look @ it everyday) around 4 bikes using the corral, the most I’ve ever seen in the corral was 8 bikes…