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Bikes to Ballparks: Taking Sides
North and South, Chicago Teams Score
With Bicyclists
By John Greenfield
Kerry Wood’s arm is sore and Frank Thomas has a fractured
navicular, but if their legs are feeling OK, they might want to
try pedaling to the next home game. Both the Chicago White
Sox and the Chicago Cubs are stepping up to the plate to promote biking to their ballparks.
It’s not hard to find somewhere to lock your bike near U.S.
Cellular Field, the Sox’s stadium in Bridgeport; and it’s
about to get a lot easier. Right now, there are on-street racks
with space for 38 bikes near the stadium, on the north side of 35th
Street and at the south side of the ballpark.
As early as this fall, 42 secure, weather-protected bike parking
spaces will be available one block east of the former Comiskey Park.
The Chicago Transit
Authority and the Chicago
Department of Transportation are working together to install
double-decker bike racks inside the Sox/35th Red Line station. It’s
part of the Bike to Transit Project, which will build high-capacity,
sheltered bike parking at four CTA stations across the city.
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| A rendering of the bike racks that will be
installed at the CTA 35th/Sox station just in time for the American
League Playoffs. |
The Sox organization wants fans to know it’s easy to cycle
to games. On Friday, June 17, as part of the city’s Bike to
Work Rally, local broadcast personalities on bikes will participate
in the Media Commuter
Challenge. They will challenge a car the four miles from Sox
Park, downtown to Daley Plaza.
“It’s a great opportunity for us because we want people
to realize just how accessible U.S. Cellular Field is to the Loop,” says Katie Kerby, director of public relations. The team is also
donating game tickets to be raffled off at the rally.
The Sox staff practices what it preaches. For years they’ve
maintained a fleet of six bikes, used by their security guards to
move quickly around the stadium, and even under the field via service
tunnels. “A golf cart is just not as convenient as a bike
for getting through crowds and small spaces,” Kirby says.
Meanwhile, in Lakeview, the Cubs have hit a “home run” with the Wrigley Field Bike Check. They started this free service
in 2003, setting up an attended “coat check for bikes” inside an old car wash at the corner of Clark Street and Waveland
Avenue. It’s open two hours prior to game time and closes
one hour after the game ends. “The Bike Check is a blessing
for a lot of people who otherwise might not feel comfortable biking
to the games,” says Mary Kusmirek, Cubs exterior stadium operations
manager.
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| Fans can have their bikes serviced while they
watch the Cubs. |
The bike check entrance recently moved to the south side of the
building to provide better lighting and security-camera coverage
for the bikes. To direct people who are used to approaching from
the north, Kusmirek borrowed a bike route stencil from the CDOT
Bike Program and marked a path. This year she hopes to beat
last summer’s record of 169 bikes parked in one night.
The car wash will be demolished after the 2007 season, but the bike
check will continue to operate, according to Michael Lufrano, vice
president for community affairs and general counsel. The Cubs are
now obligated to provide attended bike parking as part of the Neighborhood
Protection Plan, an ordinance passed last year that requires provided
services to lessen the impact of the Cubs’ games on the Wrigleyville
community. Along with promoting CTA use and a remote car parking
lot with shuttle service, “valet bike parking is one of the
Cubs’ strategies to reduce traffic jams and parking headaches,” says Kusmirek.
“Re-training people not to drive their cars into the neighborhood
is a challenge, but that’s what we’re promoting - alternative
transportation.”
John Greenfield is the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation bike parking
coordinator
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