Just in time for National Bike Month, the city’s new bike racks arrived at last week.
Already known as a , bikeability is about to get even better in Lakewood.
About 15 U-shaped bike racks and one large bike corral are . The corral, to be stationed on the street in front of the Root Café, is believed to be the first on-street bike parking in the region.
The racks on Detroit Avenue — with a price tag of $5,000 for all of them — are just the beginning, said Dru Siley, the city’s director of planning and development.
One of the key takeaways from last year’s bike study is that in Lakewood, biking is kind of a big deal.
“It’s how people get around,” Siley told Lakewood Patch earlier this year. “We have so many folks who ride as transportation. There (are) recreational riders, people who ride to run errands, and there’s commuter riders.”
The city’s showed where in the city bike traffic is heaviest. Those areas along Detroit Avenue are getting the racks.
As part of their construction plans, the and the will each have a bike rack.
— in front of the — is also getting one. So are spaces near the , , and .
The block in front of has the highest density for bicycle traffic in the entire city, according to the bike study.
That’s where the city is erecting the 15-foot-long bike corral on the street in front of the building.
In addition, the Root is investing in a bike corral designed by local artisans, Rust Belt Welding.
Once the Root’s own bike corral is installed this summer, the city will move its corral to another location.
“I think we’re going to expand this in the future — farther up on Detroit and some areas on Madison (Avenue),” he said.
Siley said the new, seven-member ad hoc Bike Rack Advisory Committee (B-RAC) helped to determine the best type, color and locations of the bike racks.
The B-RAC members are:
- Mike Gill, Great Lakes Courier
- Ben Van Lear, resident, advocate and bike commuter
- Erika Durham, Bike Lakewood
- Councilman Tom Bullock, Ward 2
- Bryce Sylvester, City of Lakewood
- Sean McDermott, LakewoodAlive
- Pat Ginley, Resident, advocate and bike commuter
