Introducing Grocery Store Bike Parking Ratings

By On October 20, 2010 · 14 Comments

This article is part of a series (it seems) of grocery stores with poor bike parking – it first started with my local Dominick’s. I started an inventory and rating system for Chicago. I welcome your contribution. If you want to start a page for your town, I can help you with that.

After seeing the photos of the wacky bike parking situation at the Lincoln Park Whole Foods on Ding Ding Let’s Ride, I had to take a trip there myself!

By my count, I find that with 3 wave racks (of 2 sizes) and 3 grill racks, there are 27 bike parking spaces. You can debate me and possibly find 4 more.

Surely you can fit more, just like you can fit 4 bikes on a 2-space Chicago u-rack.However, the racks are installed so closer together to make this area quite a pain to find a space. And if you have a long wheelbase cargo bike (bakfiets, Madsen, or Yuba Mundo), GOOD LUCK!

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The only space available for a longtail cargo bike like my Yuba Mundo is in a car parking space next to a hybrid Chevy Tahoe illegally parked in a handicapped parking space.

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Photo showing too-close placement of the two kinds of racks. Notice that some bikes hang into the curb – it was the only way to use that bike rack. Other spaces might not have been opened when these people arrived.

But officially, for planning purposes, the Chicago Department of Transportation considers that rack as only fitting 2. This area could easily be sheltered. I think it’s something the store should look into. It provides sheltered car parking, which costs proportionally more than sheltered bike racks!

In the future, I expect better from Whole Foods.

For now, Target takes home the cake for providing consistently “good” bike parking. (Great’s the best a store can achieve.) So far, the rating system isn’t fully formed or automated. It’s a work in progress!

Sidenote: Access to Whole Foods via bicycle really sucks. There’s a 5-way intersection controlled by stop signs; then there’s the old railroad track and potholes. It might be better if you come in from the south, but then you have more RR track to deal with.

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Photo montage showing how to access Whole Foods from Sheffield by bicycle.

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  • http://www.csbikes.org Robert Guico

    Heh. I’ve attached Whole Foods – Schaumburg’s bicycle parking infrastructure.

    http://www.csbikes.org/img/infrastructure/wholefoods-schaumburg-parking.jpg

    It’s blurry because it’s underground, and the brightness of the wall couldn’t provide enough light to minimize shutter speed on my iPhone.

    This is actually a pretty good example of parking… I was standing 10′ back from the rack when I took the picture, and there’s plenty of room around the rack for trailers. It’s underground, so my stuff won’t get rained on.

    My only complaint is no one knows it’s here. First of all, I have not seen any other bikes locked to this, so I don’t have any good indication of how many suburbanites even bike to Whole Foods (and for me, it’s 19.5 miles, one-way from Carol Stream.)

    Even if others were to bike there, there are no signs pointing the way to bicycle parking from the nearby sidepath to Whole Foods’ underground parking lot. Bicyclists therefore don’t know about their dedicated parking spaces.

    This parking space is infinitely better than the other grocery stores I’ve been to. Jewel in Carol Stream (northwest) has no place to lock a bike, except for a trash can or up on a planter, when it’s empty. I lock it to a decorative steel grid when I do that. Unfortunately now there are mums in the planter.

    Jewel in Bartlett has no place to lock a bike, so I’ve used a red maple tree in a tree coffin/planter out in front.

    Dominick’s in Bloomingdale has no place to lock a bike, so I’ve used a secure railing that divides the entrance and exit doors.

    Ditto for Walgreens in both Roselle and Carol Stream.

    CVS in Bartlett actually has a bike rack, even though it’s one of those infamous 6″-tall wheelbender designs. I consider this better than nothing, but if you don’t have a kickstand, you can’t use it.

    • http://www.stevevance.net/planning Steven Vance

      I wonder if the Whole Foods employees at Schaumburg know about the bike parking.

      It looks like a pretty good setup. Lots of room, a decent rack, and sheltered!

      Are those the only stores in those ‘burbs? I want to find their addresses and add them to the list.

      • http://www.csbikes.org Robert Guico

        They should. The Whole Foods in Schaumburg was built with an underground lot, probably because of parking minimum requirements (the surface lot wasn’t “big enough”).

        Coincidentally, the underground lot is rarely used, because the surface lot is typically only 60-80% full. (Imagine that.) However, I have seen employees park underground and take a separate employee-only staircase to the store.

        Here’s the satellite view: http://tinyurl.com/2cb8x4k

        Also, I was wrong about the Walgreens in Roselle. They have a 3′-tall wheelbender bike rack. :-) At least it’s right by the front of the store.

        As for addresses…

        Whole Foods, 750 North Martingale Road, Schaumburg, Illinois 60173
        Jewel, 750 Army Trail Road, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188
        Jewel, 125 E. Stearns Road, Bartlett, Illinois 60103
        Dominick’s, 144 South Gary Avenue, Bloomingdale, Illinois 60108
        Walgreens, 445 E Maple Ave, Roselle, Illinois 60172
        Walgreens, 540 N Schmale Rd, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188
        CVS, 101 Bartlett Plaza, Bartlett, Illinois 60103

  • Drew

    You can squeeze 6 bikes on a Chicago U-rack. Two (2) on each post (locking the fronts of the bikes) and 2 with front wheels resting on the top of the rack.

    I don’t understand why the city advises only putting 2 bikes on a U-rack. Yes, 6 is excessive, but they should put stickers on the racks showing how to lock 4 bikes.

    • http://www.stevevance.net/planning Steven Vance

      To lock more than 2 bikes, you have to finagle your bike in there, by moving others’ bikes and squeezing your hands through any openings to get the lock on right. People who ride bikes want as much convenience as the next person – it’s easier to lock to a bike rack with 1 bike than one with 3. If it’s inconvenient, people won’t ride.

      The stickers were removed because of an unnecessary added cost. The message on the sticker wasn’t being received and it was decided they weren’t useful, even if redesigned. The only useful information they could provide was a URL or phone number on how to request more.

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