As part of Cincinnati’s commitment to improving the city’s bicycling community, the City has installed a new mounted bicycle rack inside of the Fountain Square Parking Garage in downtown Cincinnati. The bicycle rack is the first of what will be a wave of new bicycle parking facilities inside existing City-owned garages.
In February, Cincinnati’s Planning Commission approved a bicycle parking ordinance that will require all new or expanded parking garages to provide bicycle parking. The ordinance would specifically require that one bicycle parking space be provided for every 20 motor vehicle spaces. The ratio is comparable to those found in other cities like Portland, New York City, Charlotte, San Francisco, Kansas City and Denver which have all recently implemented similar ordinances.
The Fountain Square Parking Garage currently holds 635 parking spaces for automobiles which would mean should it be constructed today, the garage would be required to provide 24 bicycle parking spaces due to the 24-space cap included in the new ordinance for large parking garages. The new bicycle parking ordinance is the first of its kind in the region and is intended to tackle the problem of a lack of secured, covered bicycle parking spaces in Cincinnati’s center city.
The new rack inside the Fountain Square Parking Garage holds 12 bicycles, cost approximately $1,400 and was paid for through the City’s existing Bicycle Transportation Program. Officials from the City’s Department of Transportation & Engineering say that preliminary discussions are underway to incorporate more of these racks in other City-owned garages, but that public feedback would be helpful as officials determine where to locate them next.
Please share your thoughts on where the City should install these bicycle racks next in the comment section below, by filling out a form on the City’s website, or by calling (513) 591-6000.
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