Oct. 12--Mayor Rahm Emanuel attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday for the opening of a new bicycle parking facility in Chicago's Fulton Market neighborhood, which he said was another significant investment toward creating a city that is more bike-friendly for commuters.
Emanuel and Ald. Walter Burnett Jr. , 27th, joined officials from WeWork, a startup that leases shared office space to freelancers and businesses of various sizes, to unveil WeWork's indoor facility that will be able to store up to 75 bicycles. The Bike Park, at 210 N. Green St., was transformed from a meat-packing plant "full of blood, pigs and pieces of meat" into a colorfully decorated bicycle storage space equipped with wall racks, lockers and an air-pumping station, according to Miguel McKelvey, co-founder of WeWork. A monthly membership to use the facility costs $50, he said.
Emanuel lauded the effort as another step toward encouraging alternative transportation and economic development.
"This investment in this facility allows us to continue not only the city being bike-friendly but as a new alternative for transportation in the City of Chicago," Emanuel said. "There are more and more people biking to work. So whether you bike (to commute or recreationally), the protected bikes lanes and this facility are all part of a larger investment the city of Chicago is making."
The announcement came on the same day that local bicycling advocacy group Active Transportation Alliance released a report suggesting the city should double down on its plan to build an additional 50 miles of bike lanes by the end of 2019. The group's report "Bikeways for All" proposes a total of 180 miles of new "low-stress bike routes," physically protected from motorized traffic, because standard lanes have "missed the mark when it comes to spurring new riders."
When asked about the report, Emanuel defended the city's efforts, including surpassing his 2010 goal of installing the city's first 100 miles of protected bike lanes by 2015, which he announced Friday. He also lauded the city's bicycle-share program Divvy, which has logged more than 2.1 million rides this summer, a city record and a 25 percent rise over last summer.
tbriscoe@tribpub.com
