Art - Bike Racks

[Dave]

Heather invited me to a meeting on Monday with Scott Wood and Russell Thompson with the City Planning Office. One of the things Heather brought up was that if there were more bike racks in town, maybe there would not be as pressing a need for vehicle parking spaces. Scott mentioned that lots of folks complained about bike racks on the sidewalks. The attached article is pretty interesting as it uses bike racks as an art medium. The designs shown are in NYC so they may be a bit much for M'ville, but I can see the use of some designs that might work here too.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/09/arts/design/09bike.html?ex=1219118400&en=d1113bdda739f6b7&ei=5070&emc=eta1
Dave

[Benny]

Cool! Maybe if we get Talking Heads to play at the next Sweetwater Festival, David Byrne will bring us a few dozen of his artistic bike racks for Milledgeville to use. I vote for the Mudflap Tammy" design. :D

How could anyone be complaining about bike racks downtown when there aren't any. I think people are bothered by all the places people are locking their bikes in the absence of a real bike rack. What might be a good solution for that? :rolleyes: :)

If we get some racks and put them in useful but out-of-the-way-of-pedestrians locations, I think there would be few complaints. If the people using them would not ride on the sidewalks, there would be even fewer complaints.

[hthrlngstn]

Believe it or not, there are bike racks downtown. Several on Wayne Street -you have to look hard for them. However, I think Benny is correct in supposing that people are mostly complaining about the bikes being chained to benches, parking signs, and newspaper stands!

I like the creative bike rack solution, it gives the area more personality which would be perfect for a town like ours. However, I think we need to celebrate that we are getting a least one new set of bike racks downtown -near the coffee shop! This act alone is several years in the making!!!

[GiantJB]

YES!

I am ecstatic to hear there will be a bike rack at Blackbird. That is the place I have had to illegally park my bike the most, but Barberritos, T&N Bookstore, GCSU Bookstore, Luigi's, Kuroshima, Scoops....and several more have been the other offending locations.

One is a really good start though. Im excited.

[C.U. Allezter]

Believe it or not, there are bike racks downtown. Several on Wayne Street -you have to look hard for them.

Where on Wayne? North or south of Hancock? I come in south on Wayne to Hancock almost every day and I've never seen one. Not surprising though, I didn't see the moonwalking bear either;)

[hthrlngstn]

They are red and a single U-shape. Look next to the oak tree in front of Baynes and Charmed. I think there is one across the street in front of Scoops as well. They are off the street not on the sidewalk.

[C.U. Allezter]

Wow! You're right, they are hard to spot. All those Monday rides, and I've never seen those racks. I'm sure they get used a lot, since they're convenient to Bayne's and Charmed...We need bike racks that are close to businesses that cyclists actually patronize (like Blackbirds and the restaurants).

[hthrlngstn]

I am an avid fan of Charmed!!!!

[hthrlngstn]

Seriously, the way those racks are placed, I think they would be difficult to use even if people knew they were there. I gave Mr. Graham a guide to bicycle racks and their installation (same one Benny gave to Heather Holder). Hopefully, we (the BCM) will have some input into the installation of the new rack(s).

[hthrlngstn]

If we get some racks and put them in useful but out-of-the-way-of-pedestrians locations, I think there would be few complaints. If the people using them would not ride on the sidewalks, there would be even fewer complaints.

Did we ever actually map out some good locations? I know we talked about it but I cannot remember what became of the discussions. In the meantime, you guys take a look at the area in front of Blackbird and let me know what you think as far as placement and I will pass the message along. Mr. Graham has purchased individual U-shaped racks. They looked a bit narrower than the ones we ideally wanted. Dave examined them more closely than I did so maybe he can describe them better.

[C.U. Allezter]

But do you ride your bike there to shop? In my experience, it is a rare occasion to see a bike locked up that far down Wayne St. You can't expect people to lock their bike where you put a rack, the racks should be where people lock their bikes. If the city is worried about obstructing the sidewalks, they should have considered that when they first began planning the original "Streetscape". And I've got nothing against the stores I mentioned before...I've just never seen anyone leave Bayne's with their new shotgun and hop on a bike. I know it won't be popular, but We (citizens of Mville) might need to sacrifice a parking spot or two downtown to accommodate all vehicles and leave plenty of room for pedestrians.

[C.U. Allezter]

I think they should put a rack down the front of the old theater. We would get covered parking, it wouldn't really block the sidewalk (pretty wide there), and it wouldn't exactly detract from the "facade". Plus, it would be right by the Mainstreet Milledgeville office.

[C.U. Allezter]

And no, we didn't ever map out locations that I know of. I think we should try to get racks placed on Wayne and Wilkenson, just back from their respective intersections with Hancock. That would accommodate all of the businesses downtown, and maybe other destinations too (like the courthouse).

[Benny]

I walked right past it a couple of times without noticing it or recognizing it as a bike rack, but here it is. TADA!!
Milledgeville's idea of a bike rack. :(

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3177/2770296054_21746876ff_o.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3123/2770296402_1460104550_o.jpg