Taylor over at Kondiaronk has a new post that shows us how the Bixi bikes are parked at Phillips Square. Doesn’t take a genius to know that only an idiot could have approved this in a classic case of how city bureaucracy works against the public’s best interest. Very symbolic of the Tremblay administration for sure, especially with the remarkable anti-space, Quartier des Spectacle, just a short walk down Ste. Catherine street. Perhaps someone at City Hall was thinking revenge, you know, Phillips Square is home to many demonstrations, so maybe they thought they would just neutralize the site with a long bike stand through the middle? A bureaucrat’s idea of ironic humour? Or is it just plain stupid?
Incredibly poor design – what did we win that UNESCO award for anyways?
BIXI parking across Phillips’ Square – work of the author, May 19th 2011
Many thanks to Isabelle and Nelson for reminding me of this God forsaken travesty of urban design.
So apparently BIXI and the City agree that Phillips’ Square is an ideal location for a high concentration of docks. Last year, I remember seeing docks doubled up along the eastern edge of the Square, and on occasion, a large quantity of bikes kept in reserve for a daily rush. Clearly, the demand from this particular point was fairly high. That being said, this year I discovered the solution to such high demand – the construction of a ‘dock-barrier’ which cuts the Square in two parts, as you can see above.
Aside from dividing the space, this set-up provides an obstacle for anyone wishing to cross through the Square – which is what it’s designed to facilitate. Moreover, there are still parking spaces along the edge of the Square which could be easily converted to spaces for docks. In fact, based on my observations last night, they’d probably be able to fit about twice as many bikes by using those spaces as opposed to running one long dock across the Square.
Another problem – the vendors along St-Catherine’s are further isolated from existing traffic patterns. I spoke with some of them a while ago – they we’re incredulous at how silly this arrangement is, and how anyone in City Hall could have approved of the decision.
This space deserves better.
Amen. Original post here.
