Planning Downtown JC Bike Racks with the Main Street Director

Hello. It’s been a while since I last posted. That doesn’t mean I’ve been sitting around doing nothing, however. I simply got busy with my coursework as the semester progressed and wanted to spend my winter break as an actual break. I have still been working towards the goal of bikeability and brainstorming ideas the whole time.

After the ETSU Elevates pitch competition, I got the information of several notable people. I met with these people and eventually was able to contact and arrange a meeting with Lindsey Jones, the Main Street Director for the City of Johnson City. Her position means that she is in charge of redesigning and revitalizing downtown Johnson City. It was very enjoyable to meet with her and walk around downtown to discuss bicycle parking. I am very impressed by how much she was willing to listen to be and take feedback about not only bike rack locations, but styles of racks as well. Different bike racks serve different purposes, so it is great to explain that to someone in a position of leadership.

Some of the locations that were talked about included King Commons (near the playground and near the JC sign), alongside Market and Main Streets, and near Red Meze and Tipton Street. One of the suggestions I find to be higher priority is some sort of bike parking within the median at the corner of Buffalo and Market Street. Should a parking garage go in downtown, some sort of double decker bike garage might also work well within the car parking garage. I’ve seen examples of this in Lousiville, Kentucky.

My preferred bike rack style is the “Inverted-U,” and this is what I told Lindsey Jones. I find this style to work well for locking both wheels and the frame to something stationary. I am not a fan of the “Wave” style rack, which is one of the most common designs. From my experience, they commonly lead to scratches and other damage to bicycles. I visited Chattanooga over Thanksgiving and saw some nice examples in their downtown of what an “Inverted-U” rack could look like in place of what remains of the bicycle racks currently on Market Street. Due to the narrower sidewalks, however, only one per gap may fit.

I wish to bring the bike communities ideas up to Lindsey Jones and the City of Johnson City. After all, this is for the entire bicycle community, not just me. My voice should not be the only one heard. If you have any suggestions, please let me know here or via my social media so that I can send them to those in charge of the planning. My hope is for Bike Layne and the JC Bicycle Community to be directly responsible for at least three new bike racks by the time I graduate ETSU this May.

Let’s make 2025 a great year to renew the development of bikeable cities!

One response to “Planning Downtown JC Bike Racks with the Main Street Director”

  1. I think 3 new racks is a very achievable goal. Might you consider some type of contest for folks to submit designs? Maybe work with the arts community and one of the 3 racks would be the winning design? Could raise awareness and encourage participation esp among kids.

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