Springfield bicycle parking ordinance goes into effect

According to a Springfield News-Leader story:
"The more facilities that exist, the more people will ride bikes, the more visibility they will have and motorists will be more aware of them," said Bruce Abid-Yazdi, a spokesman for Springbike Bicycle Club and a member of the city's Traffic Advisory Board.

"It basically creates awareness and gives people the idea, 'Oh, I could have ridden my bike.'" . . .

The [bicycle parking] proposal was . . . reviewed and refined by the Development Issues Input Group, a committee including members of the development community.

"At first, they were reaching way too far," said Butler, co-chair of the committee. "There's nothing wrong with bike parking — we endorse that. But if you keep adding requirements, it just costs and costs and gets unreasonable."

Butler said the committee came around after language was added allowing reductions in parking-lot requirements. . . .

"Reducing parking requirements saves money," said Butler, adding that building new paved parking costs, on average, about $1,500 per space.

"A bike rack, you might spend $500 to $600," said Bulter. "... Right there, you have more than offset the cost to provide the bike racks.
The Missouri Bicycle Federation hopes that Springfields new ordinance will become a model for other Missouri communities to provide bicycle parking.

In related news, the News-Leader reports that Springfield is moving forward with the next phase of its streetscape plan, which include traffic calming and better accommodations for bicyclists and pedestrians.

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