Bike Friendly Richardson

A few months ago, We opened up the BFR Suggestion Box. This is a place where the Richardson bike community can voice their opinions and suggestions about things they would like to happen in Richardson for cycling.

Fellow bike and community enthusiast, Brad M., forwarded to us a great email that he wrote to event organizers about his experience at the Cottonwood Art Festival. We thought it would be great to share it on the site:

We need Bicycle Parking… We have found it very difficult to find a space to lock the bikes up. Even in front of the pool there is not a bike rack that can be easily found. We end up locking to the chain link fence or a parking sign near the tennis courts every year.

My suggestion comes from an experience I have had attending the Austin City Limits Music Fest in Austin several times. They have a dedicated area near each entrance for bicycle parking. This is at a much larger scale, however could be incorporated into a smaller scale for Cottonwood (and Wildflower). This not only gives a safe, organized, and controlled area for bikes, but it also encourages bicycle use as other patrons walk by on the way in. A great place for a few temporary bike racks at Cottonwood would be just to the east or west of the park road where the police help cross at Beltline. There is plenty of room on the grass in between the last row of tents and the sidewalk along Belt Line. I believe this area should be well signed and promoted in the the festival literature to promote a sustainable way of travel to the fest as well as cut down on the neighborhood traffic. As people pass by in the traffic on Beltline they might be encouraged to go home and ride their bike back.

We think this is a great idea. We’ve always envisioned offering up some sort of bike valet service (like the SF Bike Coalition), but this solution is a much more obtainable goal.

Dave Carter with the City Of Richardson has mentioned to us that, for previous Wildflower events, they’ve pulled the city’s available racks and relocated them for event usage. He’s also mentioned to us via email: For the Wildflower Festival there are plenty of bicycle racks for parking bikes at the BCBS garage on the north side of Lookout Drive. Easy bike access from the Central Trail, Glenville Road and Routh Creek Parkway.

We hope to see more bike parking at more city events. Like Brad, we think having the racks available and fully visible will encourage more folks to ride their bikes to local events.