Another Good Day for Georgetown Cyclists: New On-Street Bike Racks

Walk down M St. on any given day and you'll see lines of trees shackled with bikes. What you will not find is an alternative solution. At least that was the case, until yesterday. 

On the same day Georgetown received its first bikeshare station, the Washington Area Bicyclist Association (WABA) and the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) installed three on-street bike parking locations in Georgetown. The sites are on K St. at the Lowes Theatre, on Thomas Jefferson St. just south of M St., and on the corner of Prospect St. and Potomac Ave. It's a new day for the cyclist.

In an email, Danny Koniowsky, Bicycle Parking Program Coordinator for WABA said the bike station are a bit off the main drag because of "regulations on bike parking installations that make that narrow corridor difficult to place racks." According to Koniowsky, "WABA and DDOT have been working closely with the Georgetown BID to get these locations installed."

Koniowsky explained that none of the installed sites have taken away parking that would otherwise belong to vehicles. More often the space is used illegally by loading vehicles, which is problematic because "the vehicle then restricts visibility for other cars and pedestrians at the intersection" said Koniowsky. In other words, this is a good thing for everyone.

Additionally, the new racks should be a welcome relief to the Trees for Georgetown folks who are in the process of getting new tree boxes to protect trees from pedestrians, dogs and bikes.