FABB Blog

 

Providence Community Center bike racks

Fairfax  County has developed draft Bicycle Parking Guidelines that we hope will be approved by the Board of Supervisors in the near future. The guidelines are desperately needed. Very few retail, commercial, or multifamily developments have bike parking. Where there is parking it is usually a type that is not recommended by the new guidelines and it it often installed or placed incorrectly.

In December of last year we noticed bike parking had been installed at the new Providence Community Center. We were pleased to see 7 standard U-racks installed near the entrance to the building. So far, so good. Unfortunately they did not adhere to recommended placement guidelines; they were much too close to the edge of the concrete and one of the racks was too close to the soon-to-be-installed adjacent sidewalk handrail.

We reported the problem and Supervisor Smyth asked staff to fix it. We're pleased to report that the problem has finally been fixed (and that there were bikes parked in the racks when we took the photo below yesterday evening). Additional concrete was added to the edge so that bike wheels wouldn't be extending into the grass. Unfortunately the rack that was too close to the handrail was removed and not placed elsewhere. Thank you Supervisor Smyth for your help.

At FABB's request, it was Supervisor Smyth in 2007 who initiated the development of the bike parking guidelines. Providing adequate, properly placed bike parking should not be this difficult. Let's hope the Board adopts the new guidelines soon.

Providence Community Center bike racks - Dec 2014

Providence Community Center bike racks - July 2015

Labels: bicycle parking guidelines, providence community center, supervisor smyth

posted by Bruce Wright at 5:58 PM permalink