Bike Parking

Sustainable Worthington has created an interactive, online map showing all bike racks within Worthington.  Here is the map of bike racks in Worthington. Check it out.

Friday, May 4, 2012 - Unveiling of Worthington's first two artistic bike racks!!

6pm at the MAC.  7pm at Graeter's parking lot.  Free biking pin to bicyclists.  Preview pics shown below.

Here's a press release about the unveiling....

WORTHINGTON, Ohio – Worthington is getting some artistic bike racks, and they won’t be hard to find.

The first two artistic bike racks will be unveiled for the public this Friday, May 4, as part of the the kick off of First Friday 2012.  The red rack at the MAC (McConnell Arts Center) will "appear" at 6 p.m. and the purple rack will appear at 7 p.m. immediately southeast of Graeter's parking lot..

The bike racks are part of an effort to encourage biking to downtown.

“This is a great way to encourage biking and add some color and art throughout Worthington,” said Jon Cook, executive director of the McConnell Arts Center. “These are the first two artistic bike racks, but I think you can expect to see more of these around town.”

Bicyclists who attend this event will receive a free biking pin in honor of the occasion.

The racks resemble bicycle wheels, to which bicycles can be hooked. A steel support across the top of the rack resembles bicycle handlebars.  You can see pics at www.sustainableworthington.org/biking, plus check out the interactive google map of bike rack locations throughout Worthington.

The artistic racks were designed and made and Creative Metal Works of Dayton, Oregon. They were the brainchild of Fred Yaeger of Sustainable Worthington, a grass roots organization that promotes environmental programs.

“I travel around Ohio quite a bit, and I’ve seen these artistic bike racks and thought they would make a great addition to downtown Worthington,” Yaeger said. “Ideally, these racks draw attention to biking and more people hop on their bikes instead of getting in their cars to go downtown”

The bike rack at the McConnell Arts Center was purchased by the Rotary Club of Dublin-Worthington, and the Worthington AM Rotary Club. The Old Worthington Business Association purchased the downtown rack.

The new, artistic racks supplement more traditional racks that were placed in downtown Worthington last fall and earlier this year.

The McConnell Arts Center is located at 777 Evening St., Worthington, Ohio. Hours: Tuesday-Thursday: 10 a.m.-9 p.m.; Friday-Saturday: 10 a.m-5 p.m.; Sunday, 12-5 p.m. Parking is free.
 

Sustainable Worthington members are working on multiple projects regarding biking.  If you are interested in learning about or helping with any of these projects, please Contact Us.

Q: Why is biking relevant to sustainability?

A: Some background.  Think of a bike ride in Worthington in terms its purpose(s): 1) to ride for the sole purpose of riding (recreational) or 2) to ride to get to a specific destination where you'll do something (destinational, also called active transportation), or 3) both.

Whether for recreation or for destination, biking makes Worthington more sustainable because biking strengthens our community, in many ways.  Destinational biking improves sustainability more than recreational biking; but either kind is more sustainable than taking a motorized vehicle to go places in Worthington (OK, there are exceptions, but they are just that - exceptions).  Here is a short, and incomplete, list of ways biking may improve sustainability compared to driving or riding in a motorized vehicle: improves rider's health, increases social and environmental connections, decreases pollution, decreases road maintenance, decreases rider's energy consumption costs, decreases space set aside for parking vehicles.  Of course, walking is even more sustainable than biking, but walking to many "destinations" in Worthington is not possible because many people do not live within (their) walking distance of such destinations, but, they do live within biking distance.

Q: Where are bike racks located within Worthington?

A: We're glad you asked,...because Sustainable Worthington has created an interactive, online map showing all bike racks within Worthington.  Here is the map of bike racks in Worthington .