“I’m going to try to kill it at council, but that’s a complete waste of taxpayers’ money,” Mayor Rob Ford told the media Tuesday, when asked about the station during an announcement about summer road construction.
The $1.2 million bike station was approved by the government management committee Monday and will go to council for approval next month. The plan includes four showers.
When constructed, the station would be one of the biggest in North America, with room to secure 380 bikes. Chicago’s Millennium Park bike station – called the McDonald’s Cycle Center — has 300 indoor secure spaces and was the biggest in the country when it opened in 2006.
In Europe, bike stations have an even greater capacity. The Amsterdam train station has two bike stations with room for 5,000 bikes each, says Dan Egan, Toronto's cycling infrastructure manager.
Councillor Doug Ford issued similar comments against the project Monday.
The station will be in the Toronto Parking Authority garage below City Hall, which will lose 24 spaces to accommodate it. At capacity, the spaces would generate $70,000 annually in parking revenue.
“We’re taking away parking space down here at City Hall that is creating $70,000 worth of revenue, and — ready for this, folks? — they’re putting in showers for the bike riders to come down here, to a tune of $1.2 million,” Doug Ford said Monday. “That’s the gravy train. That is reckless spending — to put showers here at City Hall at $1.2 million. It’s disgusting.”
Cycle Toronto’s Jared Kolb disputed the lost revenue at the same meeting, showing photo evidence that many spots in the City Hall garage sit unused all day.
The bike station was part of the Nathan Phillips Square revitalization package passed by council the first time through.
Source: thestar.com
Author: Patty Winsa
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