You cycled where?!?

Vaughan Mills Mall, located in Vaughan at Highway 400 and Rutherford Road, is a shopping and entertainment complex of colossal proportions. With over 1.2 million square feet (110,000 m²) of retail space, all on a single floor, it is the 11th largest mall in Canada and 6th largest in the GTA.

It's often a stressful drive to get there, particulary during the evening rush or on weekends.  This is the result of car-centric planning, which has consequently made every other mode seem difficult and uninviting.
























I rode my bike there last week.  My route was mostly on minor roads (except a short segment on Jane on the sidewalk), it was quick (quicker than a car during rush hour), and relatively easy.  The most challenging part of the ride was crossing the 4-lane ring road that surrounds Vaughan Mills.  The intersection circled in red below is a controlled by stop signs, which ends up being really unconfortable to cross by bike or two feet.  It's not often that you see such a big intersection controlled by stop signs.  The crosswalk doesn't even have curb cuts.

The second issue I have is with the bike parking.  Their website clearly says 16 bike racks at each main entrance (in addition to 6300 free parking spaces for cars).  I biked around the mall and found a total of 6 bike parking spots for the entire mall (2 spots at entrance #2, and 4 spots at entrance #4).  Entrances #1, 3, 5, and 6 had no bike parking, unless you count the light poles. 

For what is such a significant urban centre, and traffic generator, I expected better.

Entry 1

Entry 3

I didn't see any bike parking at the Transit terminal at Vaughan Mills either.

One ring and post at Entry 2

Two ring and posts at Entry 4

Here's my bike route from Vaughan City Hall to Vaughan Mills Mall.

If you ask most people, they'd think it is crazy to ride your bike to Vaughan Mills.  I would say they are crazy not to.  Have you seen the traffic on Rutherford Road at 5pm?  You can by-pass that traffic on a bike, and arrive with a smile on your face.

Another wheelbender rack

Today was a glorious day for riding, so I took my bike to the grocery store to pick up a couple of items, instead of driving.  Here's the entrance to Fortinos in Maple.  It does have a bike rack (arrow on the left), but it's the bad bike parking type. 

The middle arrow points to a bike leaning against some grocery carts, and the right arrow points to a bike (mine) locked to a sign.  I've opted not to use the wheelbender bike rack on the left.  See next photo.

 

One gentle push and these tire rims are a mangled mess!  The owner of the blue bike on the right chose to lay theirs down to avoid the risk of damage.  Also note that the rack is too close to the wall, so bikes can only be parked from one side.

Businesses need some guidelines on what bike parking is acceptable and not.  People in Vaughan do bike places.  Quality bike parking is a small measure, but it's good for business and sends the message that "we care about cyclists and we care about our City".

Crowdsourced Bicycle Parking Map for Vaughan

A bike parking map can help cyclists plan their routes and park their bikes on secure racks, rather than on a stop sign or a tree.  It also recognizes businesses that support cyclists.

With the help of the Vaughan Bicycle User Group, I'm creating a bicycle parking map for Vaughan.  It's a work in progress. 

You can help by contributing to the map! Add any public bike parking that you use or are aware of, and also areas that are in need of better bike parking.

Map Legend

Blue bicycle icons identify existing bike racks

Red triangles depict inadequate or improper bicycle parking, and should be regarded as areas in need of better bike parking.

Red point markers are areas with bike parking, but the exact location needs to be confirmed.  (Edit this point, move it to the right location, then change the symbol to a blue bike.)

Green circles are bike-specific businesses like bike shops.

Instructions

1. Click on this URL to get to the map
2. Click on the "add marker" icon at the top of the screen.
3. Add locations of known bike racks or areas in need.
4. On "Title", type the closest business or landmark to the bike rack.
5. Click "Save"
6. Change the default icon to a blue bicycle or a red triangle by clicking on the bucket in the left column of your screen, next to the location you just added.
7. You can also add links to photos if you post them to a website like Flickr, or send the photos to me.