Bike Parking and Narrow Sidewalks

  • Keeping pedestrian space clear of obstructions

Inverted "U" rack sits close to a building wall to keep bikes from obstructing pedestrians

In many locations sidewalk space is limited and room for bicycle racks may not be always available.

In Victoria we have begun to design site specific solutions to ensure adequate bike parking can be found at popular destinations. The Bug Zoo downtown draws families and individual cyclists but the building owner's requests to the city were initially turned down because of the narrow sidewalks.

Like many jurisdictions, Victoria tries to protect pedestrians by keeping obstructions out of their right of way. Working with the city staff we identified the illustrated solution where racks are anchored close to the building rather than the curb. Space between the rack and the building wall is tight and bikes do not fit in the space easily, but the rack at least holds one bike and with some effort, another will fit on the inside.