A Positive Response from the City

Salt Lake City has been making serious strides to become a more bicycle-friendly city over the past few years. One of those steps has been to install protected cycle lanes on some of the lower-traffic streets.

Unfortunately, not everyone knows how to deal with the protected cycle tracks and it is not uncommon to find a car parked up against the curb where they are normally supposed to park.

I was, however surprised the other day to find a city utility vehicle and trailer saddled up between the curb and the row of parked cars, right in the middle of the bike lane.

The truck was vacant, and I couldn't see any city workers anywhere in the immediate vicinity. Not finding anyone to complain to, I snapped a few pictures, and proceeded to post them to the various social media outlets for a little public shaming.

A city utility vehicle parked smack dab in the middle of the protected bike lane.

Unfortunately, the internet is anything but subtle. Along with the suggestions to smash windows and slash tires, was the more subtle and reasonable suggestion to send the picture to their supervisor, which I did.

Not expecting any sort of response - remembering my last bicycle-involved interaction with the SLC Police dept. - I was pleasantly surprised to find the following email in my inbox this morning:

Subject: RE: Utility truck parked in the bike lane

Good morning, Ms. Hill, (I didn't specify Mr, or Mrs. and I know several women named Kendall. An honest mistake)

Thank you very much for bringing this to our attention, we apologize for the inconvenience. We have followed up with the Parks and Public Lands Department regarding this and the reason why the truck was left unattended was the employee mows Taufer Park, Liberty Senior Center, and Beldon Park which are all in close proximity. The employee leaves his truck and trailer at Taufer Park, and drives his mower to the other sites. The employee has been instructed in the future to not park in the bike lane or at Taufer Park.

Thank you for bringing this to our attention.


Cxxxxxx Oxxxxxxx
Customer Service Liaison and Special Projects Coordinator

DEPARTMENT of PUBLIC SERVICES
SALT LAKE CITY CORPORATION

TEL   xxx-xxx-xxxx

WWW.SLCGOV.COM

Small victories are still victories.

A Bicycle Repair Station Located Where?!?

At a gas station, of all places!

I heard the new Smiths Fuel Center that recently opened on the corner of 500 E and 600 S in Salt Lake City had a bicycle repair station, so of course I went to check it out. Sure enough, right on the corner, behind the building there was a repair station complete with tools, integrated pump and workstand.

It's nice to see things like this popping up. Just another indication that Salt Lake City is trying hard to be more bike friendly. I hope that the stand isn't immediately vandalized, like I have seen with other outdoor workstands.

Salt Lake's "Copenhagen Left"

Hot on the heels of the announcement that Salt Lake will be getting a Bike Share in 2013, I found this video.

Salt Lake has been doing a major facelift to its bicycle infrastructure over the past few years.

Along with the sharrow lanes that have multiplied - and now are on several streets in the downtown area, they painted a "Copenhagen Left" box at the intersection of Main St, and 200 S - an intersection that does not have a left hand turn.

Problem is, I don't think many people know what to do with this green box. Thankfully, BikeSLC has a YouTube video that does a great job of demonstrating how it works.

SLC Proposes Green Space Corridor on 200 S

Last month, Salt Lake City unveiled plans to transform 200 S between 200 E and 1300 E into a “multi-modal public green space corridor”. What that means, is that they are planning on taking a street with 2 lanes of car traffic and a bike lane each direction and change it into a single lane of car traffic with “greenway medians, serving as reclaimed public spaces that can accommodate street vendors, community gardens, vegetable stands, as well as host events such as musical performances, street fairs, child bicycle instruction, aerobics instruction, yoga classes, and more.”.

Artist's rendering of the proposed green space

200 S is the main corridor between the University of Utah, and downtown, and as such, it sees a fairly high level of bicycle traffic compared to other streets in the downtown area.

An Open House will be held on May 12th, from 4:00 PM to 6:30 PM, on the existing green median located at 200 South and McClelland St (~1050 E), in front of Coffee Noir. You can learn more about the project, see new visual material, and give the team your suggestions for the project.

Personally, I am more comfortable on the roads with the cars than on a shared use path with joggers, strollers, and kids on bikes. The only place that I will actively use a shared use path is in “no man’s land” in Eagle Mountain. There, the road is barely wide enough for a single lane each direction, and there are no shoulders. Also, since part of my ride along that stretch of roadway is during less than optimal lighting conditions, I am happy to remove myself as a potential target in that situation.

That being said, I like the proposed plans for 200 S. Anything that will calm traffic, provide additional bicycle infrastructure, and add more green public space to the downtown area is a good thing in my opinion. The artist’s renderings appear to show that there will still be enough room for those cyclists who choose to ride on the roads to share the lane with cars, leaving the green space corridor for joggers, strollers, and the like.

You can visit the city website for more information.

1 Car = 10 Bikes

As far as parking is concerned, that is.

Salt Lake City, in an effort to be more bicycle friendly has installed the first two - of what hopefully will be many more - bike parking corrals in the downtown area.

the corral in front of the Twilite Lounge at 347 E 200 S

Currently the corrals - which take the space of one parking spot and turn it into bike parking for 10 bicycles - are located in front of Squatters Pub and Grill, and Twilite Lounge. Other businesses are slated to get corrals soon. There is no cost to the business to have the city put one in for them.

Squatters Pub at 147 W Broadway (300 S)

The corrals are seaonal. they will be in place from April to November.

Salt Lake City is trying hard to be bike friendly. First with the sharrows  - which have been expanded from the initial one block section on 200 s to several roads that are too narrow for separate bike lanes - and now this. Let's hope this momentum keeps going.