Jun 21, 2010 4
Major New Near Southside Bike Parking Improvements on the Way
By: Kevin Buchanan
It’s not everyday that we get to report on something we actually had a hand in, but today is one of those days. Fort Worth South, Inc. wanted to improve the bike parking situation in the Near Southside as part of their larger goal of huge bike infrastructure improvements across the district, and they decided they wanted some outside help. So, they called us and Trinity Bicycles up and asked if we’d collaborate on a new bike parking improvement plan. After a lot of discussion, many meetings, and several in-the-field work sessions identifying parking locations, ideal setups, and more, we put together a comprehensive bike parking plan. Now, we’re happy to report, Phase One of the plan has been approved by the city and funded by the Near Southside TIF (Tax Increment Finance district), so we can give some details.
While we’re still finalizing the number of racks and such, we can say that this will be a pretty dramatic increase in bike parking, even in Phase One. At the moment, there are approximately 12 of the city-installed Texas star “lollipop” racks across the entire district. Most of them are on Magnolia Avenue, with two or three on 8th. Even in the best of cases, the Texas star racks are less than ideal – they look more like street art than bike racks, making them not obvious to riders, and there are simply too few of them and in too few locations. With the large increases in bike traffic in the Near Southside in the last year or so, thanks to the Magnolia Avenue bike lanes, groups like the Night Riders, and a continued increase in new urban residents, the existing bike parking infrastructure was becoming very inadequate to meet resident and visitor needs.
As mentioned above, we’re still finalizing all the numbers, so we can’t give a specific number yet, but we’re fairly confident that you can look forward to dozens of new racks in Phase One. Phase One will see new racks installed on Magnolia, Jennings, and South Main at a wide range of popular destinations. Each location will have multiple racks, with the number determined by current and projected future demand. The plan calls for simple “staple” racks, such as these:
These are cost-effective, easy to use, and instantly identifiable as bike racks. They’ll be installed right near the main entrances of destinations across the district. We hope that this will not only better serve the Near Southside’s existing bike culture, but also encourage more people to ride their bikes in the district, as well as serve as a model for the city on effective bike parking infrastructure (something not very well understood in Fort Worth, for the most part).
As things progress, we’ll update everybody on how the plan is going, especially once we have a final rack count and all the locations finalized. With city approval and TIF funding in place, we’re getting closer to seeing the new racks being installed across the district.














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