Who is interested in indoor secure bicycle parking at and around Union Station?

I work near Union Station and commute with my old steel frame bike and do not have a safe indoor place to park my bicycle. I am interested to see if there are other bicycle commuters out there who work near Union Station/S Wacker Dr that are interested in indoor bicycle parking, where there would be a secure area to park. If you are interested please respond by saying where about you work and how indoor bicycle parking could benefit you. 

I would like to see something similar to the McDonalds Cycle Center at Millennium Park located near Union Station. If enough people express interest in this then perhaps the City or an entrepreneur will build a space for indoor bicycle parking.

http://www.chicagobikestation.com/

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Permalink Reply by Ryan Stahlman on December 9, 2014 at 12:51pm

If it was near Merchandise Mart, I would be in.

Permalink Reply by Travis Kluska on December 10, 2014 at 11:41am

Do you think there is a demand for indoor bicycle parking near Merchandise Mart? I would like one at Union Station but am not sure if there is enough demand to support indoor bicycle parking. Can you think of many friends or co workers who would use it? I see a lot of people parking in front of my building and a fair amount of bicycle traffic here especially when its warmer out and am thinking if its built then people will use it.
 
Ryan Stahlman said:

If it was near Merchandise Mart, I would be in.

Permalink Reply by Mike Keating on December 10, 2014 at 6:11pm
Love the "make no little plans" energy, but for the time being maybe find a spot in a nearby building through a contact? I don't know where you work, but maybe there's a spot in the building in a basement or something?

When I moved my firm into my building on Monroe I negotiated the creation of bike parking in the building as a condition for moving. It's now full every day and lots of tenants are happy. Sometimes you just have to ask. Good luck!
Permalink Reply by payton on December 11, 2014 at 4:51am

Long-term plans do include a bike station as part of an intermodal center (read: bus terminal) on what's now the parking lot just south of Union Station. However, this won't be built for a while, and in the meantime a very large bus stop is going to be built there:

http://www.cityofchicago.org/city/en/depts/cdot/provdrs/transit_fac... 

Many office buildings provide indoor bike parking, and it might be worth calling the parking garages in the vicinity to see if they have bike racks.

Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on December 11, 2014 at 6:34am

I saw this happen in another office building where I worked several years ago. If tenants demand secure bike parking, property managers often find a way to provide it. To anyone who's not the person in charge at their job, it's worth asking your boss and/or HR person. They don't know there's a demand unless you tell them.
 
Mike Keating said:

Love the "make no little plans" energy, but for the time being maybe find a spot in a nearby building through a contact? I don't know where you work, but maybe there's a spot in the building in a basement or something?

When I moved my firm into my building on Monroe I negotiated the creation of bike parking in the building as a condition for moving. It's now full every day and lots of tenants are happy. Sometimes you just have to ask. Good luck!
Permalink Reply by Duppie on December 11, 2014 at 1:36pm
The 500 block of Adams has Kent college(?). The bike racks are always overflowing
Permalink Reply by Eric Peterson on December 11, 2014 at 2:46pm

I would love to see a Millenium Park type facility near Union Station as I work at Wacker and Adams. 

Unfortunately the owners of my building are unenlightened as to the benefits of providing indoor bike parking, and I have no firm to use as a bargaining chip for such facilities.

We moved from a Tishman-Speyer building which had both indoor parking and $15/month shower option at the health club. My requests for similar facilities in the new place were ignored and eventually I was told in so many words to "knock off with those requests".

Permalink Reply by Travis Kluska on December 12, 2014 at 10:45am

My building sits above an entryway to Union Station so parking my bicycle down there would be a bit like trying to find the basement to the Alamo. I have talked to management at my building and they do not seem keen to assist with finding a bicycle room since they are in the process of trying to sell the building. There are bike racks in front of the building and they are filled to the brim during warmer months and still get traffic in the winter. The building is not well suited for indoor bicycle parking since there is no basement or place really to park bicycles on the ground floor of the building. Perhaps if a new owner comes in they would be more amenable to a bike room. 

The intermodal center sounds cool, but I would like a quicker solution if possible. Does anyone know of an office building around union station that would allow other building tenants to use their space? There is only one parking garage that is in the immediate vicinity of my building and it is worth a try contacting them but the garage is an open air garage just south of Union Station and is not the best option. I would be better off using the racks in front of my building, but will see if there are other garages that would be a better fit.

Permalink Reply by Travis Kluska on December 12, 2014 at 10:53am

Eric,

Would you be interested in starting a petition drive and get people to sign up and getting your bicycle parking neighbors to sign? I think the ideal solution is a Cycle Center and if enough demand for it is shown then the City or an Entrepreneur will move forward with it. 

My prior building was closer to Michigan Ave and had a garage underneath the building and I had a garage opener to gain access and there was a shower room there as well, which was the ideal parking situation.


 
Eric Peterson said:

I would love to see a Millenium Park type facility near Union Station as I work at Wacker and Adams. 

Unfortunately the owners of my building are unenlightened as to the benefits of providing indoor bike parking, and I have no firm to use as a bargaining chip for such facilities.

We moved from a Tishman-Speyer building which had both indoor parking and $15/month shower option at the health club. My requests for similar facilities in the new place were ignored and eventually I was told in so many words to "knock off with those requests".

Permalink Reply by Travis Kluska on December 12, 2014 at 11:07am

Also, I have been conversing with Reps from Active Transportation Alliance and they shared this bicycle parking guide from NYC which is useful. An established parking lot starting a bicycle valet in some of their spots seems like it could be a part time solution until a cycle center is established.

http://www.transalt.org/sites/default/files/issues/bike/bikeparking...

I was informed that new protected bike lanes have been designed and funded and are slated to be installed on Randolph, Washington, and Clinton in early 2015!

Permalink Reply by Jane on December 12, 2014 at 12:25pm

There is a rack inside the station but it only take about a dozen bikes. There seems to be space to add more racks though, is that an option?

Permalink Reply by Bob Kastigar on December 12, 2014 at 3:49pm

The entrance ramp just north of Jackson has the bike rack for a few bikes, but many more bikes could be accommodated.  Pre-9/11 there was a lot of car traffic down there for drop-off and pickup but not any more since the ramp is blocked off. 

This would be idea for travelers not taking their bikes on trains and for Metra commuters as well.

Jane said:

There is a rack inside the station but it only take about a dozen bikes. There seems to be space to add more racks though, is that an option?

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