Going underground: new bike park opens under Library Podium
Josta two-tier bike racks
The area in front of the David Wilson Library, where staff and students sit out in good weather with laptops and/or mugs of coffee from the Library Café, is known as the Podium, on account of being slightly raised above the surrounding area.
Work over the past year has considerably strengthened the Podium, as well as making it more attractive and providing gentle slopes that make it altogether more wheelchair friendly. At an early stage, the idea was proposed that it might be possible to utilise the space underneath the Podium for something; perhaps as a … bike park?
And so, after a great deal of hard work (by local firm Danaher & Walsh) and consultation with the University’s Bicycle User Group, the new Bike Store is open for business. It was formally opened on Tuesday by local BMX star Keelan Phillips, who cut a ceremonial ‘ribbon’ made from inner tubes.
The new Bike Store has space for 300 bicycles, using state-of-the-art two-tier Josta bike racks to maximise capacity. Available to staff and students, the bike store is accessible using a swipe card, has motion-sensitive light and CCTV cameras, and even a pump in one corner in case of punctures.
With this new facility and also some new Sheffield loops outside the Maurice Shock Medical Sciences Building, the University of Leicester campus now has spaces for a thousand bicycles. This is a major investment in sustainable travel by the University and reflects our commitment to cut our carbon emissions by 60% by 2020 (against a 2004 baseline).
- International BMX champ Keelan Phillips cuts the 'ribbon' with the assistance of the Vice-Chancellor and Sandra Lee, Sustainable Travel Officer.
