Capitol Hill lost one of its two on-street bike parking options when SDOT removed the rack in front of the Broadway Market QFC late last year. Nobody tried that we know of — but SDOT now tells CHS they were worried that the rack would be stolen. Now planners are looking for new locations to install a more secure rack design.
SDOT planted three on-street bike parking racks around the city last February — two of one style (Broadway Market and Green Lake), and another kind at the 12th Ave. location — the only current Hill location offering on-street bike parking, in front of Stumptown Coffee and Cafe Presse. The Green Lake one ended up getting stolen last fall, which prompted the removal of the Broadway twin, SDOT tells us.
“We wanted to prevent that from happening [at Broadway Market],” said Doug Cox from the Bicycle, Pedestrian and Neighborhood Projects division of SDOT. “The design of the rack made it easier to steal.”
We were also told in January that the Broadway rack was removed because of “low usage” by a SDOT spokesperson.
The design of the 12th Ave. on-street bike rack is effective SDOT says and the City has approved eight to ten more for locations around the city yet to be determined, to start appearing around the city in late spring or early summer of this year. The Seattle Bicycle Advisory Board (SBAB) held a meeting Wednesday and presented their ideas on where these racks could go. One suggestion for another Capitol Hill location is in front of the Cha Cha Lounge and Cafe Vita on 11th Ave. and E. Pike St. It seems unlikely a rack will return to the Broadway QFC location.
Where do you think on-street bike parking would be useful on Capitol Hill? SDOT is still considering placement for those racks and are taking your suggestions. Contact Doug Cox and the rest of the bike program at [email protected] with ideas.
Couldn’t think of a better location. Just make sure to clear the sidewalk of racks to give walkers more valuable space. Maybe someone can ask Vita to move their tables to the location of the racks to provide even more clear walking space.
I remember that last year we suggested in front of Vita to SDOT but were subsequently told that they didn’t want one there. Something about the need for truck space… Anyway, hopefully after seeing the success of Stumptown’s rack they have had a change of heart.
Any bike racks should be as far away from business entrances as possible so as to allow handicap parking, truck zone loading, and regular parking spots to remain in place. The bikers should be able to handle the extra walk.
… why cant they do a survey of current hill bike racks to determine which bike racks are currently the most used? seems kind of unscientific just to ask for suggestions.
and hopefully the new bike racks look a little nicer?
Drivers should be able to handle an extra walk too. After all, driving requires very little physical output compared to someone riding a bike.
maybe its just the picture but those racks look nice to me.
We need this kind of infrastructure throughout the city. Each rack should be marked with a brightly-colored sign so bicyclists can easily find it. Keep up the great work SDOT.
Perhaps if the bike racks’ posts were secured in cement instead of bolted to the surface, stealing them would require a noisy hack saw. I never understood that about the bike racks. That and the old school designs are almost always installed backwards so that most locks only are able to lock the front wheel to the rack instead of the front wheel AND frame.
Nice, Wes, maybe Vita shouldn’t have any seating at all. Why there shouldn’t be any outdoor seating in all of Seattle! Why are so many in this town so against urban relaxation?
“Why are so many in this town so against urban relaxation?”
Bitterness over the few months where it’s welcoming outside :)
I think wes was suggesting Caffe Vita just move their seating closer to the street to open up the sidewalk. I love walking down sidewalks that are between outdoor seating and the storefront!