FOIA request shows no statistics behind the removal of the Benson bike corral
Channel: Sarah Johnson
Date: 23/01/2020

Omaha's only bike corral was removed in December to make room for an additional parking space in Benson.

Last month the Public Works Department removed Omaha’s only bike corral, but now city officials say there was no traffic study done to back that decision.

In December, City Engineer Todd Pfitzer said the corral was removed to make room for more car parking in Benson.

“We have an overabundance of bicycle parking in this area that is very underutilized, statistically, and we have a severe shortage of automobile parking,” City Engineer Todd Pfitzer said

Bike advocate and former owner of the Omaha Bicycle Co.,Sarah Johnson filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the city to try to get the statistics behind the removal of the bike corral.

“We weren’t getting straight answers about the studies that they were talking about and the statics that they were pointing to as justification to remove the corral. So we submitted the FOIA. The information came back, very short answer there is no study,” Johnson said.

Pfitzer said the city has not done any studies on the parking availability in Benson for cars or bikes, he said his statement was based on observation.

“There’s no studies that were done,” Pfitzer said.“If you drive through Benson and count the biking availability for parking there’s 30 bike stalls from 60th to 63rd.If you count the automobile parking there is 84.”

Pfitzer said the corral was installed at Johnson’s request when she opened the Omaha Bicycle Co., but City Councilman Pete Festersen said that’s not entirely true. The bike corral was requested by the Benson Business Improvement District (BID) in 2013 to encourage more people to bike to local businesses.

“We worked together with the community, both with the Benson Business Improvement District and with bicycle advocates at the time to get that in place,” Festersen said.

Benson BID board members said they were not informed that the bike corral was being removed and told city officials that the board wanted to keep the bike corral.

Johnson said she feels like there isn’t a way to get the bike corral back in Benson.

“The city is not listening to its citizens. We are paying their paycheck and it feels like a bad relationship,” Johnson said.

Festersen said he is working with the Benson BID on a mobility study to figure out a way to bring more parking and biking infrastructure to the area.

“I’d like to reestablish the bike corral, and I think that can be done in the broader strategy of how are we handling parking and mobility in the business district,” Festersen said. “We certainly can increase parking in the district, but we can also increase bike infrastructure and bike corral opportunities at the same time. They should not be mutually exclusive, in fact they should be working together.”

The Omaha Active Living Advisory Committee (ALAC) will have a meeting Thursday at 3p.m. to discuss the future of the Benson bike corral.

https://fox42kptm.com/news/local/foia-request-shows-no-statistics-behind-the-removal-of-the-benson-bike-corral