Image Credit: Contributed/City of Kamloops
August 14, 2015 - 3:30 PM
KAMLOOPS - Riding your bike around Kamloops just got easier with the addition of three new Bike Repair Stations.
Strategically located near the bike commuter routes and recreational areas of Riverside Park’s high water pillars, McArthur Island Arena’s front entrance, and Kenna Cartwright Park’s main parking lot, these new repair stations provide cyclists who have a flat tire or whose bicycles are in need of a quick tune-up with access to everything they may need to make repairs. The exact locations of the repair stations can be found online on the City’s bike and trail map at www.kamloops.ca/trailandbikemap.
After consulting with the City’s Bicycle Advisory Committee, these sites were identified as the best locations for the repair stations due to their high bike traffic, visibility to the public, and existing infrastructure such as bike racks and bike paths.
“As part of the Sustainable Kamloops Plan, the City is always looking for ways to encourage and support people to get out of their cars and into using alternative modes of transportation - whether it’s getting to their place of employment or for outdoor recreation purposes,” said Marc Solomon, the City’s Sustainability Programs Coordinator. The Plan has goals to increase the number of people using other modes of travel to their workplace (including carpooling, transit, walking, cycling and other modes) to 30% by 2020. “Biking to work not only reduces carbon emissions, but it also improves quality of life health-wise which are both goals of the Plan,” said Solomon.
The new stations are made by Bike Fixtation and can service two bicycles at once. They also offer a reference link to online help for repairing bikes. The repair stations provide cyclists with free access to a variety of tools, from a bike pump and tire levers to hex keys and wrenches. The tools retract to prevent them from being tangled and are secured with high strength aircraft cable to deter theft.
Depending on feedback from the public and how often the repair stations are used, consideration will be given to adding additional repair stations to other high use bike areas in the City.
News from © iNFOnews, 2015