Friday, November 13, 2009

Mt Auburn Bike Parking

I was at Mt Auburn Hospital recently for some routine bloodwork, and I was very impressed with their bike parking.
There was a lot of it,  it was my favorite type (easy for big basketed bikes)  and it was covered, well lit and felt secure in that it was near the entrance and the valet parking station.


They even had a card reader accessed fenced parking area for staff that seemed like it was being pretty well used.  I've seen a nice Azor workcycle parked there on previous visits.

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Unfortunately there were some small issues. In order to get to a curb cut up for access to the parking you have to get past the parking ticket barrier,  so for most people that means lifting your bike up or dodging the boom.  Not such a big deal unless you have a big heavy bike.
Also,  I know that they want you to access the place through the lobby garage entrance, but I preferred to walk directly across the courtyard.  Strangely, there's a sidewalk, but it stops abruptly.





I don't know why they even bother pouring a sidewalk that leads into a brick wall.  Either concrete is cheaper than planting bed, or someone just wasn't thinking.

Speaking of not thinking, on the connector between the bike path and the hospital I found this lovely sidewalk condition in a brand new sidewalk.




If you got out your tape measure, there's probably exactly 36" of space between the post and the edge of the sidewalk (the legal minimum), but it just seems like someone wasn't thinking.  Clearly pedestrians are cutting the corner there (looking at the dead grass),  and it would have been simpler to form the concrete as a bevel instead of a curve and create a truly generous way to pass the post.  There's a assisted living facility and a playground right near here, so you'd think that they'd be paying attention to the needs of wheeled vehicles on the sidewalk..

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