Monday, December 29, 2014

Petition: STOP waiving bicycle parking, update the UDC to APBP-compliant

Please sign this PETITION

Enough is enough. Bicyclists are doing their part to reduce auto dependency, reduce emissions and clean up the environment. Providing a bike rack is the least that a business can do to encourage more folks to leave the car home. It is cost effective and easy to install, yet requiring one with a certificate of occupancy still isn't enough to guarantee it will happen.

It is rare or never that a place of business in Delaware provides secure bike parking on its own, and riders are left in search of anything they can find that will take a lock and hold a bike upright. Often times we see multiple bikes scattered about the front of a fast food or grocery store, or other retail outlet. In nearly every case, a tree or sign post becomes the only choice. This is why advocates fought hard and won provisions in New Castle County's Unified Development Code that make bicycle parking mandatory with all new and reconstructed buildings. It is but one reason that Delaware is recognized as a Bicycle-Friendly State, among many others won in past decades. So why is this allowed to slide? Help put an end to routine bicycle parking waivers today by signing the petition above.

Secure bicycle parking is not rocket science, but few business owners are bicyclists so "a rack is a rack". Therefore, the end result - if the code is enforced - is usually a wheelbender. This is why we need the code changed and routinely enforced. As with the model pictured above, a rack must have both wheel and frame support, or two points of frame contact that allows locking the frame and front wheel together.

The classic "wheelbender" or "toast rack", as it's often called. Note how no one is actually in the rack, because the only thing holding the bike upright is the front or rear wheel. If your bike topples or is pushed over, it can destroy the wheel.

Check in with our Bicycle Parking category to learn more about this critical aspect of bicycle advocacy.

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