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 Jane on December 12, 2014 at 3:52pm

I think we are talking about the same rack. Its always full, and as you say, there is room for many more bikes there. It seems safe enough, although its not secure as in limited access.

Permalink Reply by Eric Peterson on December 12, 2014 at 5:26pm

I would be interested in working with others to find a solution. Seems there might be some undeveloped available building space somewhere on Canal, including possibly in Union Station. How cool would that be. I can see that there is closed off space on the south side of the Main Hall.

The prevailing model though it seems is for buildings to offer facilities (parking and gym) to tenants only. That's the way it was with Tishman-Speyer anyway at 125 S Wacker, and I think at other buildings. I just want secure parking and a shower, somewhere closer than the 1.25 mile walk to McDonald's Cycle Center.

Travis Kluska said:

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 15, 2014 at 7:01am

The McDonalds Cycle Center just posted this conversation on Chainlink (http://www.thechainlink.org/forum/topics/new-cycle-center-location) saying they get requests every day to open up new locations in the city and are taking requests for locations and amenities.

Permalink Reply by Eric Peterson on December 15, 2014 at 11:30am

Thanks! I posted there as well.

I also see interest in Merchandise Mart, which is about one mile from Union Station, and also from McDonalds Cycle Center. Wouldn't it be great if we could have this triad of options? 

Considering all the money spent on infrastructure, with no contribution from riders, adding a couple more cycle centers to the mix seems like a relatively low-cost investment in cycling especially considering that members would pay for the privilege. Some people that ride in from longer distances (like me) would surely make use of such facilities. 

I surely hope some momentum continues to build for this - let's get the word out.

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