Bike Racks: On MetroBus, Lack of in Places and Wrong Type in Others

I can only recall taking a city bus once in my lifetime, a few years ago to get to MetroLink to get me to the airport for a flight out of St. Louis. Thirty-eight years and I’ve ridden a bus once. Sad really when you think about it.

So today I did something really big. Not only did I take the bus downtown but I took my bike along for the ride. I made use of the fold-down bike racks on the front the bus to quickly get me from South St. Louis to downtown. From 4th & Washington, where I got off the bus, I was able to bike around downtown and to my meeting at the St. Louis AIA office. [UPDATE 4/19 9:20am – The bike rack on the front of the bus was very easy to use! I highly recommend to others to give it a try.]

Before the meeting I stopped at 10th Street Italian to have dinner. Great food, low prices and alfresco dining are a winning combination. As no bike racks are provided on 10th Street I had to secure my bike to a parking meter.

Locking to a meter is not idea. First, it creates a obstacle for those trying to add money to their meter. Second, it simply is not a secure as a bike rack or even a street sign. My bike weighs a whopping 50lbs so it would take a strong and determined person to lift it over the meter to steal it.

At left is my bike secured to one of the new stylish bike racks located on Washington Avenue East of Tucker. The placement of the smaller ring on the rack made it very easy to secure both my frame & front wheel to the rack – a very good thing. However, the design of the rack and its placement on the sidewalk put my front wheel in the path of pedestrians.

I’m sorry, this is bad planning. I can see what they did. Someone decided they wanted concrete to indicate where people should walk and then they have a section for decorative brick for the other stuff like street trees (good) and benches (not used). The bike rack placement is seemingly based solely on the fact they need to bolt to the concrete. This is not how a very functional item should be located.

The basic inverted U rack on Washington Avenue West of Tucker is the type I’d like to see all over St. Louis. This holds two bikes, like these, but it turns the bikes to be parallel with the street and sidewalk. This keeps the pedestrian path clear.

In the above picture I was locked to the ring away from the bench. Upon returning to the AIA office later I switched to the other position on the rack – nearest the park bench. Since the bench and other rack position was empty is wasn’t a big deal to get my bike in and out of this position. However, had another bike been locked to the rack it would have been a challenge to get my bike into place and secured to the rack.

I’ve got a theory about the placement of the bike racks so close to the back of the benches. Since they had to place the racks in the concrete walkway it was thought they should be near the benches so someone doesn’t accidently run into them.

This rack also places both bikes in the same direction. This is also a problem as handlebars often conflict if bikes go in the same direction. Using racks that allow the bikes to alternate direction are much better in sidewalk situations.

In summary, decorative brick where it is hard to secure a bike rack led to the wrong rack in the wrong place. The bike racks are close to the benches so they are not a trip hazard but if the rack gets used the front wheel becomes a hazard to pedestrians. We just finished this project so we will likely have to live with it for sometime.

The worst part is this was “professionally” planned. Someone made the decisions that let to a less than ideal situation. This is a case where I think the ideal, or at least closer to it, could have easily been achieved within the given time and budget. Aesthetic decisions were made over functional considerations. This was done either by choice or lack of understanding about the implications.

When we spend our tax dollars and build brand new projects we should be getting better design – not just pretty patterns in the paving.

– Steve

10th Anniversary of Oklahoma City Bombing

Tomorrow is the 10th Anniversary of the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. This home-grown tragedy has been understandably overshadowed by the horrific events of September 11, 2001. As massive as 9/11 was it doesn’t change the personal feelings about the Oklahoma City bombing. I haven’t lived in Oklahoma for nearly 15 years but when such an event happens in your hometown it sticks with you. On April 19, 1995 I had only been living in St. Louis for about four and a half years.

I remember that day well. A co-worker said he heard about a bombing in Oklahoma City and we quickly found a TV. Nobody knew what had happened, people were missing and rescue operations were just starting. National broadcasters were commenting on the face of the building being missing but I knew instantly looking at the images that a good chunk of the tower was missing.

While I don’t recall ever being in the building I driven down the street where Tim McVeigh parked the truck many times. I had been on the plaza on the South side of the building a number of times. I must admit I was never a fan of the building and plaza. Even the worst building doesn’t deserve such a fate. More important than the building were the 168 killed and the thousands more impacted by the bombing.

My uncle was getting ready to leave his house for a court case across the street. My cousin, his legal secretary, was home sick that day. Had she been well she would have been in the immediate area at the time. My parents knew a woman that had been their bank teller, she had just started her new job at the credit union. She was one of the 168 that perished.

My parents live about 5 miles away from the site but my mom says the house shook. She thought something exploded in their garage. Visiting the area a couple of months later I began to see the full impact. By the time I arrived the remains of the tower had been imploded. Driving into town it was weird seeing the whole in the skyline where the building once stood. The entire area was devastated.

In an instant what was once an urban section of downtown Oklahoma City became as bad as an urban renewal project – clearing blocks of buildings. Some buildings were able to be saved but many others were razed. On the 5th anniversary the OKC National Memorial was dedicated. My first visit to the memorial was on Christmas Eve 2000.

As memorials go this is one is moving. I cry every time I see it. As regular readers know, I am not fond of closing streets. The calm reflecting pool shown above is where the street was located. The street that 10 years ago was anything but calm. That is a powerful statement.

In the background on the left is the old YMCA building. A great modern building that I have loved since I was a child.

Ten years ago the YMCA immediately became abandoned as it was severely damaged by the bombing. The above picture is also from 12/24/2000. They were trying to find ways to save the building but a few years ago it was razed for a parking lot. I didn’t know any of the people that lost their lives 10 years ago but I did know this building and the area.

I feel the loss of the people, the buildings, the area and our innocence.

– Steve

Mascoutah Illinois’ Mainstreet is A Good Example of Small Town Urbanism

On my second Podcast I mentioned how Main Street in Mascoutah IL is narrow but interesting. A number of people asked for pictures. As it happens, I had to go through Mascoutah today on the way to a Bicycle Fun Club ride in nearby St. Libory IL.

The street is narrow with on-street parking only on the North side of the street. Over the years many parking lots have been built which takes away from the line of buildings. A number of storefronts have been converted to residential uses. As this street is returning to commerce I expect these will eventually return to use as storefronts.

As you will see, what works in a small town may not work in the city.

… Continue Reading

Podcast #2 – Taxes, Gas and such

It look me a bit more time than I had hoped between my first podcast and this one. I thought it would be easier to just ramble on about topics rather than have to type them out but boy was I wrong. It is still fun so I will keep doing them.

Click here to listen to my second postcast on taxes, gas prices, Mascoutah, IL, South Broadway Bridge and Lemay. I start and end with a little music. Total time is just over 6 minutes. As always, feedback is appreciated.

– Steve

No Van, Truck, or SUV Parking

Sometimes it is impossible to see oncoming traffic when pulling out of a drive. A van, truck or SUV parked on the street can present a real challenge for drivers of reasonable sized vehicles, cyclists and pedestrians.

The City of Clayton has a few areas where the have wisely marked spaces on either side of driveways (private or alley) as “No Van, Truck or SUV Parking.” Certainly folks in Clayton are civilized enough to follow the rules?

Oh wait, what is that we see in the left of the picture?

Oh yes, a big and expensive Volvo SUV parked where the space is clearly marked. Nice. This person would likely feel bad if they caused an accident. Is parking a few spaces closer to your destination that important?

I’ve blurred part of the tag. As you can hopefully see this is a dealer plate although it doesn’t mean it belongs to a local Volvo dealer. Might be an Enterprise vehicle or similar.

If you are a law enforcement official and you can look up registration please email me and I will give you the full plate number along with the unedited image. I’d love to see them get embarrassed by having a cop show up at their office with a print-out of the picture…

If you drive a big SUV please keep in mind the rest of us cannot see through or around your vehicle. However, drivers of vintage MG’s might be able to see under some obnoxious trucks I’ve seen.

– Steve