If you are someone who rides a bicycle to Los Bagels in Arcata, you have certainly noticed the absence of the bicycle rack at the front parking lot. I have recently received multiple readers asking what is going on with this? As it turns out I met with store manager Travis May, I can share with you insight on what caused the changes, and what is in store for the future.
First I think it is important to highlight that Los Bagels supports customers choosing to arrive by bicycle. Dennis and John both owners of Los Bagels commute by bicycle on a daily basis, along with many of the staff members. You can also spot Dennis in the Humboldt Bay trail overview video, discussing briefly his support for bicycles(at the 3:30 mark in the video).
As mentioned I met up with Travis, store manager not long ago. I did reach out to him to share my concerns with the bicycle rack moving to the back of the parking lot. Travis invited me to the store to do a walk-about outside to discuss ideas for the future. Primarily non-motorized ideas on how to improve the customer experience.
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The initial change –
The bicycle rack was removed from the front parking lot, and set back in the rear of the parking lot. In the rear corner of the parking lot was a seating area that was not being utilized as well as it could have been. They decided to move the seating to the front, which in turn affected the bicycle parking.
![OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA](https://completestreetshumboldt.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/p9280427.jpg?w=627&h=470)
new seating in front parking lot. You can also see a customer set his bicycle here, without locking it up. The front left corner of pavement will be cleaned up in the near future.
![bicycle rack moved to rear parking lot.](https://completestreetshumboldt.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/p9280426.jpg?w=627&h=470)
bicycle rack moved to rear parking lot. This area will also get a storage shed in the future. The rack will be moved a bit in the corner, and bolted down. Work in progress……
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Both Travis, and I agreed that having the bicycle rack in the rear parking area was not optimal. We both also agreed that the general public area were also lacking bicycle parking. It just so happened that days after I met with Travis, he was meeting with the city of Arcata public works department. The meeting was to discuss bicycle parking primarily in the public right of way. This was related to the upcoming bicycle blvd project, which had allotted funding to install more bicycle parking in this neighborhood area.
A few recommendations I made to Travis – we discussed ideas on more bicycle parking on the Los bagels property, as well in the public right of way
1. An on-street bicycle corral – this would be the first in Humboldt county. It would create a very unique experience in front of Los Bagels, make the seating area much more welcoming, increase the parking capacity, and increase visibility to the business from the street. This would be in the public right of way. At the time of this publication I have not received any official feedback about this idea.
2. With the new seating at the front of the store – I suggested the first auto parking spot right next to the seating could be re-purposed as bicycle parking with racks. As the current situation has a large planter box next to the parking spot it makes it very difficult to enter/exit a vehicle. It can also be difficult to reverse when leaving this auto parking spot. I have also suggested if they choose not to re-purpose the parking spot in the below image to bicycle parking. They should consider replacing the planter box with something smaller to allow for easier auto parking in this spot. I suspect Los Bagels will keep it as an auto spot, and I hope they re-configure the divider to something that will not take up so much space. Perhaps two extra-large plant pots, that way it will not interfere with opening/closing of car doors, but it still provides protection to the seating area.
3. We discussed ideas on various locations for the city to install bicycle racks in the public right of way. A bottom line idea was it would be great to see more bike racks up, and down the street in general. In this image below Travis, and I thought this “dead spot” could be more utilized with a bicycle rack. Just an idea to explore.
Employee bicycle parking –
The Los Bagels staff has bicycle parking at the rear of the store with hooks on the outside of the building with some sheltering on the parking lot side. As well on the opposite side of the building from the parking lot, additional bike racks exist, along with a pathway making easy access for employees to enter the store.
Travis meeting with the city –
Chris – How did the meeting go with the city, Travis?
Travis – “The feedback from our meeting with Netra and Dolby(public works) was good. With relative ease, they can add a 12ft “bulb out” with 4 hoops. The bulb out is going to be located right in front of the new tables and take up part of the apron entry way to the parking lot. They are also going to work on options for the dirt median across the street by T’s café. As well as add a few hoops along the street”.
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The bulb out as discussed above would be part of the bicycle blvd project. You can see an image of the location, below –
In general I know that the city identifies this area does not have enough bicycle parking. It is my understanding that the funding for the bicycle blvd will include more bicycle parking throughout the bicycle blvd project area.
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I would like to thank Travis May for his time, and having this important discussion. About how we can improve the experience for customers at Los Bagels, arriving by bicycle, foot, and automobiles. It is good that a business can recognize the importance of the overall customer experience, which begins with access, before they even get in the store.
Of course I will keep readers updated as future changes unfold. Once the bicycle blvd has been completed on I and 10th streets, I’ll share my impressions on how the project was implemented into our community.