Renovations and bike racks in downtown Kent

[rpavideo]Team8_BikeRacks[/rpavideo]

Scott Lockstedt, 29, of Kent, rides his 2013 United KL40 BMX bike downtown every day. Before going to work at Skullz Salon, he straps his bicycle to the tree in front of the salon with a cable lock. The nearest bike rack is on the corner of Main and Water streets.

“That’s a little farther than I’m comfortable with having an investment, as well as my main mode of transportation, being from me, so that’s why the tree seemed like an attractive option,” Lockstedt said.

Economic Development Director Dan Smith said adding more bike racks downtown is a priority. Smith said Hometown Bank, College Town Kent and Ron Burbick’s Phoenix Project have each added bike racks in the area already, and the city plans to follow suit.

“I do know that it’s a priority for us,” Smith said. “On top of bike racks, also the aesthetics of the downtown. We just painted all of the lampposts because we didn’t want to have a section of the town that looked brand new—just a little three-blocks—and just have the rest of it not looking so great. So the upgrades will continue throughout the fall and into next year.”

Jim Bowling, superintendent of engineering and deputy service director, said the city has recently ordered a new set of benches to go downtown and placed 40 percent more trashcans in an effort to create a better atmosphere.

“We’re looking to invest about $50,000 in bike racks, so we’re looking at anywhere from 40 to 60 [new bike racks],” Bowling said.

Though the city plans on investing in single-post bollard bike racks, Bowling said that part of the goal of the revitilization project is to create a greater sense of place downtown. The city will put out a call to artists for original bike-rack designs.

“We’d rather have fewer, more high-quality bike racks to help create the sense of place that we’re in Kent, versus a whole bunch of posts and circles. … That idea just came from the administration and council developers that said they want Kent to be a destination, a greater place and not just a place to go get a beer,” Bowling said.

Much of the funding for the trashcans, benches and bike racks, Bowling explained, comes from tax increment financing. As the property value increases after the renovations are over, a certain portion of the higher taxes will pay off the debt that allowed for the renovations in the first place.

Bowling said much of the revitalization project should be complete by early next year. The bike racks will be placed in highly-trafficked areas, outside of restaurants and stores—places, he said, where people “want to be able to look outside and see their bike.”

Lockstedt can see his bicycle from the front desk of the salon where he works. Still, he said, a bike rack would give him a better piece of mind.

“I would feel better strapping it to a nice piece of steel than, you know, a small sapling on the sidewalk,” Lockstedt said.

A few bike racks that are available downtown, he said, are in positions, like against a wall, where only half the intended space can be used. For this reason, some bicyclists resort to locking their bikes to trees and benches. More bike racks, he said, would give downtown a cleaner appearance.

Sam Dillemuth, freshman applied engineering major, said he failed to find a place for his bike on a recent trip downtown.

“I had to actually ask the owner if I could take my bike actually into the store and just park it inside,” he said.

Dillemuth said he thought more students would feel encouraged to make their way downtown if there were more safe places to keep their bikes.

Smith said the changes being made downtown were planned to make the area more pedestrian-friendly. The expansion of the esplanade gives the area a direct connection to approximately 28,000 students with no more than a quick walk or bike ride.