Bicycle parking in Cleveland Heights

Take out that bicycle, fill up the tires, and save money this summer by using one of Cleveland Heights’s many bicycle parking racks. Bicycle parking is free, easy to use and are located throughout Cleveland Heights. With the average American spending more than $8,000 a year on gasoline, insurance, and other costs related to automobile use, bicycle parking is a great way to save money, and improve your fitness at the same time.

The Cleveland Heights Bicycle Coalition (CHBC) surveyed the community’s bicycle parking racks, and here’s what it found:

• Cleveland Heights has more than 50 bicycle parking racks.
• Lee Road was the most bicycle-friendly road, with 25 parking racks in just 1.4 miles of roadway. That’s an average of a parking rack every 300 feet!
• Severance Shopping Center has a total of eight bike racks.
• Coventry Village has three bike racks: outside Coventry Village Library, outside Chipotle Mexican Grill, and between the parking garage and Panini’s Bar and Grill.
• Cedar Fairmount shopping district also has three bike racks: in front of Dave’s Market, outside Aladdin's Eatery, and behind Starbucks.
• Some bike racks are better than others. The best are those that allow users to secure both the frame and wheel of their bikes. The worst are "grill" racks, which can damage bicycle wheels and provide the least amount of security.

CHBC has volunteers working to improve Cleveland Heights’s bicycle parking. Laura Marks, an advocate who successfully encouraged Cleveland State University to install the yellow racks on Euclid Avenue, is now collaborating with John Foreman, building manager for the CH-UH elementary schools. Ian Hoffman, CHBC treasurer, is working with Coventry Village to find ways to improve the shopping area’s bicycle parking.

To see maps of available bicycle parking in Cleveland Heights, or to volunteer to make the city more bicycle friendly, visit www.bikesintheheights.org.