Union Station Bike Hub
With spring in the air, it is a good time to post about the soon-to-be Union Station Bike Hub!
A bicycle facility like this one has been a long time coming. With the recent completion of the bus and rail improvements at Union Station, a bike facility will play its part in ensuring the transit center is truly as multimodal as can be. But what exactly is the Bike Hub?
At the most basic level, the Union Station Bike Hub will be an indoor bicycle storage area with numerous amenities. Showers and locker rooms will be provided to make biking into the heart of the region more realistic for people who are coming Downtown for work or some other non-recreation reason. In addition, it has been said that a bike repair facility (operated or do-it-yourself repair facility not yet clear) will be present at the Hub. Also, a Denver bike tour operation is being considered as well!
The Bike Hub, to be located adjacent to Union Station on 16th Street between the EPA Building and the under-construction Triangle Building, plays a lot of important rolls. First and foremost, it makes the benefits of physical activity from biking more accessible to many people. Whether it is precipitation or perspiration that discourages people from biking Downtown when they really would like to, the Hub, with its enclosed space and showers, respectively, removes those barriers.
The Hub also solves the “last mile” issue that many non-automobile commuters experience. The “last mile” is the distance between your stop where you get off of transit and your final destination. If one were to take the bus, light rail or [soon-to-be] commuter rail to Union Station, they could take their bike with them and ride to their final destination. The same idea applies to accessing transit from home. At the very least, the addition of the Hub enhances Union Station’s status as a transit center as it will accommodate cars, buses, and several types of trains; link to air; and support bike and foot travel.
The project is a result of collaboration between the City and County of Denver, the Union Station Neighborhood Company and Bike Denver. With the current percentage of commuters coming into Downtown on bicycle being 7% and rising, such a facility is highly desirable. This is what we call transportation equity! More and more people are biking in Denver for both recreation and commuting. As Denver continues to attract the bicycle-friendly young professionals fueling its explosive growth, it is expected that the number of bicyclists on the streets of Denver will continue to rise.
At CAP Management, we have a very high regard for bicyclists. Much of our staff rides to work on a regular basis and each year we participate in the regional “Bike to Work Day” festivity. We’re so happy to see the Union Station Bike Hub coming to our Downtown neighborhood! It is expected to be completed in the fall of 2015.