Bicycle parking in short supply at Tichester Park locking rings
There’s a parking problem at Tichester Park, and for once it can be blamed on two-wheeled vehicles, instead of cars.
The small park has four bicycle rings to which cyclists can lock up their bikes, and all but one are occupied by bikes that look like they’ve been there all winter and are quite likely abandoned.
We were checking out another problem near the park, on Tichester Rd., near Bathurst St. and St. Clair Ave.W., when we noticed lots of bikes fastened to the locking rings.
They were surrounded by melting snow that was turning into puddles and pooling around their wheels, a good indication that they hadn’t been used in a while.
So we took a closer look and found that they scored several check marks on our list of telltale signs for abandoned bikes: soft tires, rust on the chains and other moving parts and a coating of grime.
One of the mysteries of life in the city is the curious phenomenon of people locking up their bikes — as if they’re a valued possession — and then simply walking away from them.
Locking rings and other things to which riders lock their bike are filled with abandoned bikes, and nobody has ever come up with a good expla- nation for why it happens.
Back in 2010, we went for a walk along College St. to look for abandoned bikes and found a total of 31, between Bathurst St. and Ossington Ave.
With spring on the way and warm weather already here, more people are riding their bikes every day and will be heading to parks, where locking rings are in short supply.
Elizabeth Block emailed us about just such a problem at Taddle Creek Park, where locking rings on the street in front of it were removed but not replaced, leaving riders in the lurch.
When abandoned bikes locked to rings on the street are reported to the city, they’re tagged with notices that say the owner has seven days to move them, or they’ll be removed by rightof-way management.
STATUS: We’ve asked Ray Stukas, who’s in charge of parks in that area, if he can arrange to have the bikes tagged and removed, if the owners don’t retrieve them soon. What’s broken in your neighbourhood? Wherever you are in Greater Toronto, we want to know. To contact us, go to thestar.com/yourtoronto/the_fixer or call us at 416-869-4823 email jlakey@thestar.ca. To read our blog, go to thestar.com/news/the_fixer. Report problems and follow us on Twitter @TOStarFixer.