This fall I’m going to write a series of posts about biking to and in downtown Springfield. I’ll look at some of the standard issues such as bicycle parking and routes to downtown from various parts of town. Downtown is a great cycling destination. You’ll find most of our independent restaurants here (as opposed to the chain restaurants that dominate our numerous strip centers–many of these not bike-friendly). You’ll find theaters, art galleries, shopping, coffee houses, and much more.
I rarely take my car downtown because it is a remarkably cycle-friendly environment.
I’d like to see some more appropriate cycle parking, especially now that MSU has leased so much space here. There are three wave-style bike racks on the square where my office is located. Two get filled fast–the one near the Park Central Branch Library and Coffee Ethic and the one near the government services building. The third sits unused because it is across the street on the central plaza of the square. There’s no crosswalk to the central plaza. You just have to make your way across the street as best you can. So the third rack simply isn’t attractive.
Sometimes I’m stuck locking to a signpost near my building. It does the trick. But this is really unsightly.
Further, my bikes is more vulnerable to vehicles here.
Riding on the sidewalk is illegal in the downtown area. It’s also thoroughly unnecessary. There are enough walkers and bikers downtown that traffic moves slowly. Most of the streets around the square are narrow, but that’s a good thing. It allows a cyclist to claim the lane easily. And I’ve found downtown drivers to be courteous and respectful.
I wish I could say the same for the many of the cyclists I see these days. Nearly every trip I make downtown (usually two or three times per day) I see cyclists riding on the sidewalks and some riding on the wrong side of the road. That’s a sure way to encourage downtown drivers to lose their tolerant attitudes.
Tags: bicycle commuting, cycling, biking
Comments 2
I park my bike like this about 80% of the time on errands. It is an eye-sore but numerous strip malls eclipse any eyesore that my bike causes
Posted 21 Sep 2008 at 3:09 pm ¶Yes… and around here very few of the strip malls have even those awful wheel-bending bike racks. So parking against poles is fairly typical for me as well.
Posted 21 Sep 2008 at 3:50 pm ¶