Finding A Parking Spot Downtown Can Be Risky If You Don’t Pay Attention

I was very lucky last year that my employer let me utilize a cement that is part of the sidewalk behind our building. I work downtown and parking can get very expensive in the regular lots. However, for the next few months I have temporarily lost that great parking spot. The first floor of our building is being renovated and thus there is now a large trash container on the cement pad. If I wish to continue to ride to work, I had to find alternative parking.

The city does have a motorcycle parking program for several locations around the downtown area where you place a parking permit sticker on your fork and for $50 per year you can park in those spots anytime you wish. So, even though I have to walk a few blocks to park my bike, I do save tons on daily parking rates that can be anywhere from $5 to $10 per day. Eleven days at the cheapest rate and I have already saved money.

Several of the closer spots are out in the open air with a few shadowed by the large buildings most of the day. I did find two that were covered spots for both bicycles and motorcycles, however if you have a large bagger you might not very easily get your ride in the entryway. Since I only have a VStar 650 with average size bags I fit into the doorway easily and after several jockeying moves can orient the bike in the proper spot. Only 3 or 4 motorcycles at most will fit in the spot. Thankfully, so far I only saw that it was me and one other bike that uses the spot for permanent storage.

But here is the kicker, don’t try to use the spot without checking it out on a non-busy day. I caught myself holding up traffic as I messed up the angle the first time trying to get into the small entry way. I got in ok, once I realized my legs were not strong enough to walk the bike backwards up the ramp and turned around and drove forward into the parking area. Thankfully the vehicles coming quickly around the corner were cognizant enough for the morning rush hour and stopped to allow me to maneuver. If I would have checked out the spot prior, I could have set myself up at the correct angle the first time to quickly and easily turn in and then use the little bit of space inside to turn the bike around and park.

Also, of importance is to know if the streets are one or two way without making assumptions. I came off the one way street and followed the signs for the parking spot that had clear arrows as to where to go, however I did not see that vehicles were also coming from the opposite direction of where I was turning onto the skinny side street. Thankfully, I practice quick stops and stopped myself before turning into an oncoming SUV. Be safe out there, study your routes and always stop and look at the stop signs. Rolling a stop sign is not the safest of maneuvers.