Boulder exploring new bike-parking rules
28.8 percent of Boulder residents regularly take the bus, bike or walk to get around, compared with 7.7 percent for the Denver-metro area and 8.3 percent for the nation.
9.9 percent of Boulder residents commute to work via bicycle, almost 20 times the national average of 0.5 percent.
10.6 percent of Boulder residents use public transit, twice the national average of 5 percent.
8.3 percent of Boulder residents walk to where they are going, about three times the national average of 2.8 percent.
Source: 2008 American Community Survey
Bicycle-parking feedback
GO Boulder is asking residents who travel by bicycle to fill out an online survey about where they go, and whether the bike parking is adequate when they get there. The responses will help city planners prepare new recommendations for requiring long-term and short-term bicycle parking at new developments. To access the survey, visit goboulder.net. Comments can also be sent via e-mail to ratzelm@bouldercolorado.gov.
After several recent studies have shown that Boulder residents are commuting more than ever via bicycle, city officials are working on a plan to change the requirements for how much, and what type of, bicycle parking is required for future developments.
Developers must currently provide at least 10 percent of the number of required vehicle parking spaces as off-street bicycle parking. But there is no policy that defines whether those bike racks should be designed for short-term or long-term use.
GO Boulder, which supports alternative transportation in the city, is drafting new regulations that would define the difference between long-term and short-term bicycle parking, set guidelines for when and where each type is used and possibly recommend a higher number of required bicycle parking.
The changes would only affect new commercial and some new multi-family residential projects.
A city study completed this fall found that the number of people using bicycles to get to the downtown area increased 14 percent in just one year, and is up 46 percent since 2007.
“We are seeing a higher percentage of people who are commuting by bike,” said Marni Ratzel, the bicycle and pedestrian planner for GO Boulder.
That study also found that there’s a growing shortage of bike racks. The biggest need for additional bicycle parking was found to be near the Farmers’ Market on 13th Street between Arapahoe Avenue and Canyon Boulevard, and at the east and west ends of the Pearl Street Mall.
But equally important as the number of bike racks, Ratzel said, is the type of storage being provided.
“I think people are mostly providing short-term parking,” she said.
The problem with that, she said, is that employees who bike to work often leave their rides tied down for eight hours a day or longer, leaving them more exposed to theft and the elements.
GO Boulder’s definition of short-term parking includes spaces that are readily accessible at the public-access level of a development, usually within 50 feet of a building’s main entrance.
Long-term racks would offer more secure, weather-protected storage for commuters, residents and visitors who are often at one location for several hours.
At University Bicycles, a shop that provides perhaps the most on-street and in-store bicycle parking available in downtown Boulder, some said the long-term racks would be a welcome addition.
Jesse Nie, 20, said he rides his bike almost every day to work at the shop. While the store has provided racks outside and inside for customers, and a rack out back just for employees, he said Boulder seems like a place that should already be offering long-term storage to the public.
“I think there’s definitely the opportunity to have some like that at least on every street,” he said. “It sounds like it should already be in place.”
Ratzel, the transportation planner, said a good example of long-term bike parking that works well is at The Peloton development, 1685 38th St.
The developers of that project chose to include storage rooms on site used exclusively for bicycle parking. Residents are given keys to access the rooms, which have lockable racks inside.
“That’s a best-practices example,” Ratzel said.
Another change being considered by the city is to allow some developers to install bike parking in the public right-of-way. Potentially, the regulations would change to allow bike parking along public sidewalks when projects are built right up to the property line.
The current regulations also exempt certain zoning districts from providing any bicycle parking. Ratzel said that, too, could change.
“There are certainly residential zones in the city that are exempt from (having to provide) bike parking,” she said. “But if you’re a daycare in that zone, shouldn’t you be providing bike parking?”
GO Boulder will likely reveal its final recommendations in February when it takes them to the Transportation Advisory Board for a public hearing. From there, the recommendations would make their way to the Boulder Planning Board, and finally to the City Council.
Boulder City Councilwoman Crystal Gray said she would like to see any rules requiring developers to include more bicycle parking work in conjunction with reduced vehicle-parking requirements.
While the public will have the opportunity to give feedback throughout the process, GO Boulder will also consider feedback from a survey posted on its Web site before it finishes the recommendations.
Contact Camera Staff Writer Heath Urie at 303-473-1328 or urieh@dailycamera.com.