Eventual Lakewood "Bike Station"?

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Tim Liston
Posts: 751
Joined: Sun Aug 07, 2005 3:10 pm

Eventual Lakewood "Bike Station"?

Postby Tim Liston » Thu May 10, 2007 6:58 pm

More thoughts from Mike Gill....

"I think Bike Lakewood should build a package of information about a bike station, the purpose being to be ready to pitch it to whoever the developer is that eventually takes another crack at the Apartments on the West End. You remember the West End project, don't you? Next time I see you, I'll show you a letter that I ran--or maybe it was a column I wrote while I worked there--in the Lakewood Sun Post.

When the West End was proposed I urged that the developer include a bike station and visible connection to the Metroparks bike trail. WHoever develops that will almost certainly include a parking garage. Using a tiny corner of it for a bike station would be enormously promotable, and it wouldn't cost much, and it would have direct economic impact by providing the northern terminal of all those miles of metropark bike lane. It would become a destination, with places like Around the Corner, the West End, that juice bar if it's still there as beneficiaries. All those places would become more obvious to recreational day trippers on the valley trail. Whoever develops it could partner with the metroparks to promote. It'd be a big deal. I'll start to build that package of information. I'll speak with Kevin Butler and other councilpeople about it. I mentioned it to Dominic this morning, when I saw him at a meeting of stakeholders in that west shore commuter rail discussion. The idea seemed to catch his attention as something new, and he seemed to see value in it."

I (Tim Liston) have always wondered how that unused and almost falling down structure in Lakewood Park, right next the the Old Stone House, would work as a bike station. One thing about it that beats Mike's proposal is that buses stop nearby.

We need your thoughts....


michael gill
Posts: 391
Joined: Fri Jun 02, 2006 11:28 am
Location: lakewood

Postby michael gill » Fri May 11, 2007 4:57 pm

Well, I don't know about the word "beats," Tim, but the buses stopping nearby is not actually a difference. The buses turn around at a stop in front of those apartments on the west end. The circulator, the 326, and other lines as well.

Also, if being in Lakewood Park creates a public partnership opportunity with the city, I think being at the end of the Metroparks trail system creates an opportunity to partner with a larger and better funded park system.

I think bike stations generally are a good way to encourage and support cyclists, and I'd certainly welcome any opportunity, and if the apparent idleness of that building in Lakewood Park makes it a possibility, then it's probably worth pursuing--especially as the park is a destination for so many people. That location, though, is on city property, probably owned by the city, and would require some ongoing local tax funds or non-profit fundraising to maintain. Also, I think the historical society has dibs. Check with Rhonda.

I think a primary strength of my idea is that I think it's worth pitching to a hypothetical private, for-profit developer who--if/when the idea gets to this stage--would already be planning to build something, including parking. My hope is that a for profit venture would see a bicycle facility in that location as an asset and selling point, and would incorporate it into amenities associated with the retail / residential construction. If we can sell a private company on the merit of this kind of investment, I think we'll have made some real progress.



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