Alder Gruber:
As a resident of your district, the author of the original query, a
frequent Hilldale shopper, and an inveterate year-round bicyclist, it is
critical to me that you understand my concerns with not only the
*amount* of bicycle parking at the Hilldale Mall, but also the *type*
and *location* of the bicycle parking at the Hilldale Mall.
The Hilldale Mall currently has a reasonably poor track record of
providing adequate bicycle parking. For instance, one of the most
laughable bike racks in the City of Madison currently can be found
outside the US Bank building at the Hilldale Mall. Not only is the rack
one of the notorious 'wheel bender' varieties, a tree with branches just
three or four feet off the ground blocks access to most of the rack,
some of the rack spaces are blocked by landscaping timbers, and to top
it all off, the rack appears to be installed backwards.
The largest rack at Hilldale is the 'fence' style of rack found on the
front side of the Mall near the UW Pharmacy entrance. This rack is
widely derided by bicyclists as being the next best thing to useless for
providing adequate security and support for bicycles.
When the new Ace Hardware opened at the Hilldale Mall recently, my hopes
for a modern, useful bicycle rack at that location were quickly
squelched by the placement of yet another 'fence' rack outside that
building. Note that I wrote the word 'placement' and not
'installation.' That particular rack merely sits on the sidewalk
instead of being secured to the ground in some way.
There used to be something like four or five 'wave' style racks
scattered around the Hilldale Mall grounds. Now there are just two left
of which I'm aware: one outside Sentry Foods (which often fills up as
bicycle commuters stop to shop on their way home after work and forces
some bicycles to lock up to trees and signs) and one near the food court
entrance on the back side of the mall. Each of those racks can park,
maybe, four bicycles.
If there is an extraordinary amount of bicycle parking that is of the
wrong type and in the wrong place, very few bicyclists will use it and
the owners and operators of the mall might as well not bother installing
it at all.
Bicycle racks should be scattered around the Mall grounds near the
various Mall entrances. They should be either the 'inverted U' style of
rack or the 'post and ring' style of rack to accommodate the largest
variety of bicycles sizes and shapes.
By placing bicycle racks of the proper type in the proper locations,
bicyclists will use the racks provided instead of locking up to signs,
trees, and other generally inappropriate objects.
The time to ensure that Hilldale Mall has not only the proper volume of
bicycle parking, but also the proper type and placement, is now. It
will be much easier to ensure that Hilldale gets it right the first time
than it will to coerce or cajole them into fixing it years down the road.
Sincerely,
David Bogen
Gruber, Bonnie J. wrote:
-----Original Message-----
From: Timothy Gruber [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Friday, June 17, 2005 9:33 PM
To: Gruber, Bonnie J.
Subject: Re: FW: [Bikies] Hilldale Mall Redevelopment
One of the things that was looked at in the Hilldale plans was bike
parking, and my understanding is there will be plenty of it.
Tim
Tim Gruber, District 11 Alder
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
608-663-5264
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