BIKE: Bike Lockers in UT Parking Garages

[Lane S. Wimberley]

For what it's worth, my experience with bike lockers out in California
was good, but really, I think they're mainly appropriate if placed
outside, since that's where they provide the benefit of protection
from the elements.  In parking garages, I don't think it's much of an
advantage, and I agree with Patrick about being expensive and
impractical (I hate those stupid over-complicated hinged non-racks).

The point about not working for recumbents might be a good one if
recumbents indeed cannot be accommodated in bike lockers, but I don't
know that to be the case for sure.

They do take up more real estate, but they are pretty nice.  Where I
worked in California, they were well respected and cared for, but I
fear that on the UT campus, unscrupulous folks might take advantage of
them to store odd crap, trash them out, etc.

On a completely unrelated matter, I rode yesterday for the first time
down to what will very soon be my new work location south-east of I-35
and Ben White.  Most of the route is fine, although the last bit is
pretty nasty.  I took Woodward across I-35 and Ben White.  That little
stretch of road was kinda nasty in sections.  Since the bike lane on
Woodward west of I-35 abruptly dissappears, one either finds oneself
in a lane of pretty aggressive traffic (that I discerned from the
hostile remarks yelled at me was not particularly bike-friendly), or
one must get up onto the sidewalk.  The problem with the sidewalk
option, aside from the usual, is that all the transitions from the
road to the sidewalk at the intersection curb-cuts involves
negotiating a ridiculous 2-inch difference between the hight of the
roadway and the height of the lower end of the curb-cut.  Now, I can
hop curbs and whatnot alongside the best of them, but these stupid and
more-than-slight bumps in places where one doesn't normally expect
them (and, I wonder how someone in a wheelchair surmounts these
hazards) can be jarring and potentially dangerous.  And, where curbs
are typicall rounded at the top, these transitions are sharp-cornered,
which I could tell was a bit hard on my rear wheel.

So, if one opts to forego the sidewalk and ride on the right side of
the road, which is spacious in places and scary in others, then one is
faced to wade through gravel and other road detritus and debris on the
I-35 overpass, and probably 30 yards of NAILS on the Ben White
overpass.  Yikes.

So, (a) I wonder if the city has any plans, money or inclination to
address the pavement of this area so that it comes at least reasonably
close to the level of the curb-cut bottoms (perhaps an ADA
complaint?); and (b) I wonder if there is any street sweeping that
ever gets done on those overpasses.

Any advice on these or other issues concerning commuting across South
Austin is appreciated.

-Lane

Patrick Goetz writes:
> I ran into Austin Gleeson the other day and he said "Hey! Did you hear 
> the news?  You're going to be getting bike lockers in the parking 
> garages!"  At first I wasn't even sure what he was talking about until 
> he explained that they're lockers to put your bike in.
> 
> Have any of the UT people on this list heard anything about this?  I'm 
> worried that this is going to be another sizeable expenditure on 
> something that is almost entirely unnecessary and impractical to boot, 
> just like those goofy and complicated hinged bike rack gadgets that one 
> finds at places like ACC and the One Texas Center parking garage which 
> no one can use because they aren't the right size for the vast majority 
> of bikes.  Not only are they taking up valuable space that could contain 
> useable bike racks, but they're so much more expensive than the simpler 
> alternatives.
> 
> My opinion is that 95% of bicyclists' needs will be met by simply 
> installing the same U-shaped racks that the city installs.  Cheap, 
> simple, effective, and able to accomodate recumbents and other odd-sized 
> bikes.
> 
> Anyone else have any thougths on this?
> 
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