In response to the sun article on July 12th about the critical mass bike ride in Baltimore I would applaud the riders. I have lived in Baltimore 2 years and after working with Constellation Energy to get a bike rack placed between the Candler building and 750 East Pratt the majority of my commute has been on bike. I am happy to say that I can no longer use the bike rack on most days because it is full.
I see more and more cyclists on the street every day especially in the summer but I would not call the city bike-friendly as Mr. Brown said. The Inner Harbor has a critical shortage of bike racks. Parking has always been an issue in the city and one way to encourage cyclists is to provide a safe and secure place to lock up your bike. I would urge all shops, supermarkets and offices in the area to look for a location where they could put a bike rack.
The Inner Harbor also lacks a safe place for cyclists to ride. The service lane that runs along Light Street and Pratt street which is briefly marked as a bike lane outside the National Aquarium would be perfect. However it is frequently blocked by Delivery Trucks, Taxies, and worst of all Tour Busses. I would like to see the whole of the service road clearly marked as a dual use bike lane and horse and carriage lane with a divider down the middle and the bike lane symbol at each entrance. I would also like to see the police ticketing illegal parking. Eventually this could be expanded from Fort McHenry to fells point or Canton.
My final note is to the National Aquarium. Please have someone on duty to guide tour buses to legal parking location. Your location quite often has close to 8 or more buses waiting to pick up or drop off people and many are blocking a clearly marked bike lane. I really hope that your new extension has plans for ample parking these tour buses when finished so they will no longer block the only section on Pratt that is marked as a bike lane.
I am very happy living in Baltimore and I hope that it will become more bike friendly over time.
Ian Macdonald
Baltimore City Resident
