Racking Havoc

In the language of bureaucracy, they are called end-of-trip facilities.

But the rest of the world knows them as bike racks, and in Fort Collins, pedestrians likely know them as the metal structures hidden within little riots of handlebars, frames and wheels along city sidewalks.

On any given Friday night in summer—as well as most Thursday nights, throughout the weekends, anytime there's an event and most sunny afternoons—the bike racks of Old Town are packed full with shiny new cruisers and road bikes, muddy mountain bikes and vintage Schwinns.

It's a first come, first serve sort of affair with most racks holding three to four bikes comfortably (six, if you’re among friends). Once the u-shaped “end-of-trip facilities” close to particularly popular destinations—namely coffee shops, restaurants, music venues and bars—are at maximum capacity, bicyclists go searching for less favorable racks, which are then soon filled.

Beyond that, they’ll lock up their rides to anything attached to the ground: trees, street signs, railings and patio fencing. Or, if desperation arises, they'll just stack their bikes like a tower, lock them together and hope no one can steal such a mess.

The scene can be a pain in the bike saddle for both pedalers and pedestrians—especially when cyclists search for a parking spot while illegally cruising on crowded Old Town sidewalks.

The city continues to receive complaints about the lack of racks in the Old Town area and the overcrowding it can cause. The issue was even one of three foci at a recent bicycling “stakeholders” meeting.

“There's just too much congestion on sidewalks. That's become a concern,” said Fort Collins Bike Coordinator Dave Kemp.

FC Bikes, part of the city's Transportation Planning Department, sees the situation as one of the bicycling issues in need of attention. They are working on plans to add and improve the parking situation throughout town. While there's not yet financing for a major overhaul of the city's end-of-trip facilities, Kemp says the city is looking into designing and likely installing a limited number of improved racks.

Part of the challenge of congestion in Old Town is that there's not room on sidewalks to add new facilities, and replacing old racks wouldn't be fiscally prudent. But Kemp said it’s clear that the u-shaped racks that line College Avenue, which hold only a few bikes at a time, are inefficient and outdated.

One possibility—a possibility his department is seriously considering—is using diagonal parking spots in Old Town as spots for movable “end-of-trip facilities” that can hold 10-15 bikes at a time. The city could then move the racks to various parking spots depending on what's happening downtown.

This option might also keep cyclists off sidewalks and out of the paths of shoppers, diners and families.

“We tell people they can't ride on the sidewalk but all the racks are on the sidewalk,” Kemp said.

It's a solution that may annoy motorists who already have a tough time finding parking spots, but as bicycling becomes more of a norm in Fort Collins—with continued efforts to increase ridership in town and soaring gas prices—the need for such changes will only grow, Kemp said.

But he noted that Fort Collins is leaps and bounds beyond other communities, many of which have few bike lanes and scant bike parking. Much of that has to do with efforts that came out of the 1995 Bicycle Program Plan, in increasing bike routes and adding bike racks, among other things.

“But we've now just surpassed what current bike racks can hold and the improvements the plan called for,” Kemp said. “The level of ridership has just grown dramatically.”

There is no real timeline in getting new or improved racks up, but Kemp said cyclists could see some change before winter. It'll likely be a community effort to solve the problem and to find funding. A bulk of Building on Basics tax dollars may be available by 2010, and Transportation Planning may be able to leverage those dollars for grants.

Kemp calls the overcrowding concerns a “growing pain.” But, in this case, it hurts so good.

“It's a good kind of growing pain to have,” he said. “You are starting to see bikes everywhere. With more bikes on the road, we do see more things like crowded bike parking and crowded sidewalks. … They are good things and things that can be fixed.”