Every time Tim Hayes rode his bike to Boca Fiesta, he noticed the bike rack outside the restaurant was full. The handicapped rail at the neighboring Hippodrome State Theatre was loaded with bikes, too.
Hayes, an avid cyclist and co-owner of Swift Cycle, said he felt there was a lack of parking for bikes across the city.
A tweet that Hayes sent about the situation to former Mayor Craig Lowe kick-started an initiative by the Gainesville Community Redevelopment Agency to install a series of bike racks.
The second of three sets of bike racks slated for installation downtown went up last week near The Top at the corner of North Main Street and Northeast First Avenue.
Cyclists in the community have expressed appreciation for the improved parking situation.
The first new rack appeared May 30 in the courtyard between Boca Fiesta and the Hippodrome.
“It should be noted that at Boca Fiesta they put the rack in on a Thursday morning,” Hayes said. “I went down there Thursday night, and the rack was completely full. So, it goes to show you that we need even more bike parking.”
The third rack, which has not yet been installed, is planned for the intersection of Southeast First Street near Bo Diddley Community Plaza.
Plans for the racks began at a Community Redevelopment Agency meeting in October.
City Commissioner Thomas Hawkins said adding bike racks to the city is a way to solve the problem of having bikes locked to things that were intended for something else.
Cody Chasteen, a UF biomedical engineering sophomore, often locks his bike to “No Parking” signs when he knows he won’t leave it there for long, he said.
The 19-year-old said he once biked to the movie theater in Butler Plaza, and he had to use the rack in front of Walmart.
“They’re within 100 yards of each other, but it’s the only one in Butler Plaza that I know of,” he said. “You have to walk all the way across the street and through all kinds of lights and stuff.”
Hayes said it makes sense for the city to continue adding bike parking because the number of riders in the city is constantly increasing.
It’s also a way to enable people to use modes of transportation more easily, Hawkins said.
“It’s pretty simple,” he said. “If people are going to bring a vehicle somewhere, they need a place to store it. If you invest a whole lot of space in parking, lots of people are going to be inclined to drive. If you invest in bike racks, people are going to be able to drive or take their bikes.”
