| Current Letters to Peoria Journal Star...IN FULL |
| Bicyclists Not Welcome I have been away from Peoria for a while, but today I found that it is still business as usual: Bicycle Shoppers Not Welcome in Our Stores! No, not all businesses turn away bicycle shoppers. Heck, some even provide a bicycle rack to encourage the cycling public to shop at their stores. Today, though, I am reminded that most retail businesses probably don't believe that bicyclist should be afforded the same accommodations as the motorized public. After stopping by a local neighborhood running store (where I was allowed to park my bike inside even though they barely have enough room for the shoes they sell) I headed for my "friendly, neighborhood" grocery store- Cub Foods in the East Bluff. Now here is a grocery store in a neighborhood that is heavily residential yet they don't provide any parking for those who might decide to leave their car at home and ride a couple of blocks to the store. Generally this poses no problem for me as many of the stores where I shop don't seem to have a problem if I bring my bike in the building with me. Today, though, I was greeted shortly after I entered and was told I couldn't bring my bicycle in the store with me. There was parking for just about every other store user except for bicyclists. If I have a special plate I could park my care near the front door. If I rode a motorcycle I could take up a "car" parking space (if I had any reasonable expectation that my bicycle would be safe I would use this option). Instead, I am told that bicycles are absolutely not allowed in the building. Instead I get told that the only place to park is against a pole or in the shopping cart coral. The sign says that Cub Foods is not responsible for any damage caused by errant carts. So, I guess that in order to use my bike when I shop at Cub Foods I have to take exceptional risks by parking my BICYCLE in their SHOPPING CART coral. This leads me to the conclusion that Cub Foods (and any other place of business that can't at least provide a bike rack) is both irresponsible and inconsiderate towards their neighbors and potential shoppers in their stores. My other neighborhood grocery store is Kroger on Wisconsin AV. Although they don't have a bicycle rack they have always allowed me to bring my bike inside while shopping. This has been the case with all the Kroger stores where I have been a customer. Thompson's, after being allowed to explain that my bike would cause less damage inside than their own shopping carts, welcomed bicyclists and their bicycles to come shop in their isles. A bicycle good bicycle rack only costs about $400. How much did one of the hundreds of car parking spaces cost and how many $$$ does it cost to maintain it each year? For the hundreds of dollars I probably spend each week in groceries the least the stores could do is provide a place for me to park my bicycle. Timothy G. Beeney 2212 N. Maryland AV Peoria, IL (309)685-9681 Wal-Mart of Peoria still continues to deny bicycle shoppers in their store on North University and still refuses to provide a bicycle rack after numerous complaints and confrontations. |
| I need to add that I can even get on the bus and get off at the provided bus stop near most grocery stores and the busses even allow me to take my bike with me, but once I get to Cub Foods I have no place to park my bike while I am shopping. |
| Bicycle Parking and Current Affairs The headlines roar about high gas prices now, just wait for war to begin. We read articles about how fat American are getting and the rise of heart disease and obesity in our youth. Everyone complains of traffic and traffic noise. All these problems can be somewhat alleviated simply by going more places by bicycle. The biggest obstacle, though, is that when you get to your destination there is no place designated to lock up you bike. Peoria's municipal code regarding bicycles dates back to 1957 and is no more than a brief reworking of the Illinois Vehicle Code only referring specifically to bicycles. This is fine for the basic rules of the road, but what about parking? There are thousands of parking spaces and facilities for motorized vehicles, but nothing regarding bicycles. Which, by the way, are legally considered vehicles. The building codes in Peoria should reflect that. Any new construction that is required to provide vehicle parking spaces should be required to provide parking spaces for all vehicles. Currently, according to the ordinances of some cities, if someone wanted to conduct business at city hall and get there by bicycle that person would have no legal place to park. As it stands now Peoria businesses are not required to provide any designated parking (i.e. a simple bicycle rack) for their cycling customers. This usually means trying to find an inconvenient and usually dangerous place to park a bicycle. It also means that many people think that bicycling for transportation (to work or school, etc.) or to run errands is to much of a hassle. When this happens many people forget that driving a car is not the only way to get around. Reduce the work load of the "soccer mom", let the kids ride bikes to their sporting activities (for those who think that isn't feasible- I rode about three miles to most all of my soccer practices in the summer and during the school year many times team members would run about two miles from school to the field). Would't it be great if young people looked forward to riding as much as they looked forward to getting a driver's licence? We would not even need to discuss driving curfews because most high shoolers know how to ride a bike without parental supervision. And they would have far fewer fatal accidents. Bicycling is a way to save money and be healthy, yet bicyclists are treated as second class citizens in being denied access to many retail establishments. While gas prices keep rising are places like Neighborhood House going to keep giving people cars that cost increasingly more to operate? How does that help someone who is already poor, many times obese and in poor health? As gas (and "free" cars) become more expensive there just might be an increase in the numbers of non-motorized vehicle users. Perhaps their will also be a place to park the increasing numbers of bicycles. You can take a bike on the bus, but you can't find a place to park it when you get there. Tim Beeney 2212 N. Maryland av Peoria, IL (309)685-9681 |