Cyclists, racks are on the way in Geneva

You've decided to save money on gasoline by taking the train from Geneva to work in downtown Chicago. And you're going to get fit at the same time by riding your trusty bicycle to the station.

But when you pull up, you discover lots of other people had the same idea, for there's not a space to be found in the bike racks.

Instead, there are bikes locked to a tree, lamp posts, street signs, even a chain-link fence. And some aren't locked at all.

There are six racks at Geneva's station at 328 Crescent Place, three to the north of the tracks and three to the south. They can accommodate approximately eight bicycles each.

"On good-weather days, it is pandemonium down there," Alderman Charles Brown said.

The good news is, city officials are way ahead of you. They have asked the bicycle-pedestrian subcommittee of the strategic plan advisory committee to figure out where to put more bike racks at the station and throughout downtown, City Administrator Mary McKittrick said.

Currently, the committee is in the process of mapping where the city's existing racks are and is expected to recommend new locations to the city later this year.

In addition, the city wants to buy temporary, portable bike racks for use at city festivals, with funding from the city's capital improvement budget. The racks, about $500 each, are available in various sizes and styles.

"We don't think one size fits all," McKittrick said.

Placement is important, too. For example, riders prefer locking their bike on the north side of the station, even if though there are usually spaces in the racks on the south side, McKittrick said. Chicago-bound trains board from the north tracks.

Despite the increase in bicycle traffic at the station, bike thefts don't appear to be on the rise. In fact, police Cmdr. Eric Passarelli said Monday that in 2008 there have been six thefts fewer than last year.

To answer your next question, it's not illegal, so far, to lock your bike to the sign posts, fence, trees or anything else there, Police Cmdr. Julie Nash said. This type of parking also hasn't caused any problems, Passarelli said.

The public works department is thinking about installing racks in the dead spaces in the corners of the new parking garage on South Third Street, across from the station, McKittrick said. One rack already has been ordered.

The same areas around the garage also are being considered for motorcycle or moped parking, she added, because of a recent spike in demand.

"If it makes sense to use some of that extra space for those types of vehicles, then we'll be doing that as well," McKittrick said.

Brown wonders if bicyclists would park in the garage, however, since they would have to cross Third Street to get to the station. "People want to be able to walk 10 feet to the train," he said.

The city would need permission from Shodeen Inc. to install more bike racks on the station property, since it owns it.