“The changes have all been good, but I think there are places where we could use more bike racks,” Mayor Pro Tem Erik Altmann said. “I commute just about everywhere on my bicycle and I sometimes find myself having to walk a bit from the nearest bike rack to where I’m going.”

There are a total of 236 bike parking spots located in the downtown area, and Community Development Analyst Heather Pope said more will be installed this spring. 

With city commissioners, like members of the Commission on the Environment, pushing for more bike and pedestrian access downtown for sustainability reasons, the city is hoping to make more changes. 

"We would definitely like to make the downtown as walkable and bike-able as possible," Altmann said. "The more walkable and bike-able it is, the less need there is for people to drive downtown. ... And it's good if you have alternative ways to get around than cars, because cars take up place, create traffic problems and displace people and businesses."

But in the midst of East Lansing's many construction projects, some bike racks and loops have been removed, rearranged and relocated. 

East Lansing resident Scott Hirko, an assistant professor at Central Michigan University, said he has frequently experienced overcrowded bike racks, specifically by the corner of M.A.C. and Albert Avenues. 

A resident for more than 30 years, he said the community is not as “bike-friendly” as other places he’s visited. 

"Think about how many residents there are in the city of East Lansing, think about how many of them are able-bodied and could ride their bicycles in the city. There's a lot — it's growing," Hirko said. "More people are riding their bikes."

Pope said the bike racks and loops that have been torn down for construction reasons will be replaced as soon as possible, and the additional bike parking spaces that were the result of relocations will remain. 

Although Altmann said it would be ideal to have bike racks within a few feet from every business, city regulations must be followed.

"One of the challenges is making sure that the bike racks don't interfere with plowing and various other things that you have to do to keep the streets clear," Altmann said. "It's sometimes a lot easier to complain about lack of bike parking than it is to figure out where to add it." 

Pope said bike rack and loop installations must be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act in terms of distance from the sidewalk and dimensions of the structure, and is something the city takes into account when determining bike parking spaces. 

"So in some areas, based on that and other factors, we're not able to place a bike loop," Pope said. "So what we do is we find an area close by where we can. We have to be in compliance."  

Three years ago, the city did an inventory check of all the bikes downtown, on public and private property, to help determine how many bike racks and loops should be installed and where. 

"The 300-block of Grand River and the 500-block of Grand River tend to be heavy bike user blocks, so we went through there and added additional bike loops along Grand River," Pope said. "We added six bike loops around the CVS area — there weren't any there, they told us they would see bikes leaning against CVS."

Although Hirko is pleased with the newly installed bike loops along Grand River and the bike trail on Harrison Road, as someone who uses his bike for transportation, he said he believes some areas still need work, like the area around the Marriott Hotel. 

"Now you have these hoops, but one's here, one's there, one's over there, and people just lock their bikes up onto gate rails because there is nowhere else to go," Hirko said.

In years past, bike parking spaces have been installed from Ann Street to Fountain Square, the Grove Street Parking Garage to the CVS area, the 300-block, 400-block, 500-block and more. 

"If you look around at cities that have really attractive downtowns, they have lots of pedestrians and cyclists," Altmann said. “The more attractive you can make it for pedestrians and cyclists, the more vibrant the downtown becomes."