Stevenage station cyclists given great new secure bike racks

New bicycle racks, providing 30% more places for pedalling passengers to leave their bikes, are being installed by Great Northern at Stevenage station in a bid to improve sustainable travel in the town.

From Monday 11 April, contractors will begin a week’s work replacing three of the four racks with two-tier modern alternatives. All have roofs to keep the bikes dry. CCTV coverage will follow. While they are installed, temporary racks will be available on the road between the existing cycle racks and the station.

An additional new, two-tier rack will also be installed under the station staircase on Lytton Way. Motorbikers and scooter users have unofficially been using this area here so Station Manager Liz Mead has created a new area in agreement with the council in their long stay car park around the corner.

Liz said:

“Stevenage residents are already travelling on the greenest form of public transport – our electric trains. Now we want to help them make their journeys to the station sustainable as well by making it easier for them to lock their bike in a secure, dry place.

”Cyclists in Stevenage have been campaigning for this improvement and our parent company Govia Thameslink Railway promised it would do something when it took over the Great Northern route. I’m genuinely delighted that we are now delivering on that promise.”

She added:

“For several years, motorcyclists and scooter users have also been leaving their machines in one of the areas where we are installing an additional bike rack, which is under the station staircase on Lytton Way.

“This is an unofficial area but, even so, I have worked with the council to create a new area that will compensate for the partial loss of space to motorcyclists. This is an area around the corner in the long stay car park of Lytton Way. It was an area that had been used for fly tipping and was infested by rats. It has now been cleared and tarmacked and a security bar is being installed for bikers to chain their machines to. We urge bikers to make use of this area and not to block the route out of the station, which is an emergency exit.”