- Additional two-bicycle racks in the downtown business district.
- Covered racks or bike shelters in key commuter locations.
- Bicycle lockers where security is a concern, such as at the Montpelier Park & Ride.
- Upgraded bicycle racks (to get away from wheelbending!) at key locations.
Please take our online survey - which takes about 5-10 minutes. Click HERE to take the survey.
Currently, Montpelier has bicycle parking, much of which is unfortunately poor or outdated in design.
Volunteers from the Montpelier Bikes project recently completed an inventory of existing bicycle parking in the capital city. The good news - Montpelier has a fair amount of bicycle parking in the form of bike racks.
Here's a map of Montpelier's current bike racks - with thanks to Dave Blumenthal, Carolyn Grodinsky, Bill Merrylees, Heather Pipino, and Gwen Roolf for their assistance in completing the inventory. Click on the map to see more detail.
Now for the bad news - most of Montpelier's current racks are of an outdated "wheelbender" style that can actually cause damage to bicycles -- and although these racks may look like adequate parking, few are located directly on the street/sidewalk, where bicyclists want to park. Almost none of the racks are under cover to protect bicycles from rain/snow, and many racks are poorly located too close to buildings, rendering them partly unusable. Many bicyclists instead lock to wastebaskets, tree cages, and parking meters.
Current national guidelines recommend bicycle racks that provide two points of contact with the bicycle frame, to keep the bicycle from tipping over. The old-fashioned "wheelbender" racks are no longer recommended. Bicycle parking should be distributed throughout an area, rather than concentrated in a single multi-bicycle rack.
Please take the survey and let us know where you think new bike racks should be!
4 comments:
Bummer..I just found the flyer on a post downtown last night and I find that feedback is alreday cutoff. Any chance of getting a say in still?
Dylan Rivis
I guess I'll put my comments here FYI.
I think most bike racks are a pain, They do not work for my bike as I use the 'U' lock* on my crossbar. I prefer the parking meters for hooking onto. I have seen in other places small bike 'racks' that attach to the meter posts which do not hinder access to clear the snow in the winter (which the conventional racks do.)
*Incidentally, I have lost a ring with two stubby U lock keys on it, one black, one silver.Call me @ 223-1422 if any one has found them.
Some Montpelier roads are a significant problem:
To name a few:
1. Try driving 2 and 302 from Montpelier to the B/M road...scary..stuff (rocks & heavy sand buildups etc) all over the road.
2. Stone Cutter's Way; there is a manhole by the old salt shed that must be a FOOT below grade..god help anyone that hits it in the dark.
3. The Main St/Barre St intersection still sucks as the surface is so uneven.
4. Barre St between the foot of Sibley and the used car dealer, especially through the 'cut' alongside the tracks is way too narrow and uneven - both ways.
5. Top of Liberty is an uneven mess.
6. The pedestrian/bike bridge over from the Grehound depot to 2 has had lights out for 5 years, despite my pleas to the City to replace them. It makes the bridge unsafe fat night.
7. I like to cycle down to the rail depot in the summer evening to meet the train but later in the summer when it gets dark early it is way too scary to cycle back on the bike path as it is pitch dark at the far end, as well as being so broken up.
8. Heavy sand buildups on Berlin Street back from Berlin to Montpelier on the slopes make for dangerous cycling too.
9. There seems to be absolutely no control over people walking their dogs off the leash, dogs which can suddenly dart out into the road from between cars.
Do you realize that there is no access, period, to Barre from Hospital Hill/Berlin Mall without either going all the way back down Berlin St to Sherwood and down to the BM Road or going all the (4 miles)way around by the Airport/Prospect Street as bicycles are prohibited on the Barre 'bypass'. Also, technically you are not allowed to cycle from the Berlin Mall over to the Staples Plaza as bikes are restricted on the thruway.
Dylan, thanks for your input. We are recommending parking-meter racks, which should fit with your parking needs.
Thanks also for the other comments on roads and streets - will take those into account on future initiatives looking at the streets. We received some additional comments from other survey respondents, as well.
Bicycle restrictions on Route 62 are certainly a concern; for now Montpelier Bikes is focused within the City limits of Montpelier. In the long run, we may take a broader approach to the region, but for now need to focus. I'd encourage you to express your concern on Route 62 to:
State Bike/Ped Coordinator jon.kaplan@state.vt.us and the VT Bike Ped Coalition info@vtbikeped.org
VTrans could change the policy to allow bikes on that road; it is a decision of the state traffic committee, as provided by 23 VSA § 1139(d) which you can see in this document: http://www.vtbikeped.org/resources/VTBikePedLaws.pdf
Could I have access to this bike parking inventory for my website? It'd be great to be able to include Montpelier.
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