YORKTON - The City of Yorkton is planning to install some 20 bike lock stations throughout the down town area, hopefully this summer if the COVID pandemic allows.
At the start of the pandemic, Nicole Baptiste with the City said they were already seeing increased use of bikes throughout the community and it showed that the downtown was severely lacking places for people to lock their bike.
The City currently has a few bike lock stations installed in the downtown that were originally introduced by the Yorkton Active Transportation Collaborative, (YATC). As part of the Downtown Parking Review 2021, it was identified that additional bike lock stations are needed to encourage people to bike more during our summer months, explained Baptist.
The review of parking including parking for bicycles and through discussions with groups such as YATC, the Chamber of Commerce and Yorkton Business Improvement district it was determined there was an interest in having more places to park bicycles as a way to encourage people to bike more, said Baptiste.
The City applied for a grant through the Canada Healthy Communities Initiative to fund the lock stations, and were successful in receiving dollars, said Baptiste.
As part of the project an invitation has been made to Indigenous artists to submit designs for the bike lock stations. A maximum of two designs are allowed per submission and the chosen artist will receive $1,000.
The City saw this as a great opportunity to also include some functional art that is reflective of Indigenous people in our area, said Baptiste.
The City aims to work with Indigenous artists to create an increased cultural presence and art in the community. The deadline to submit your design is Feb.11, 2022.
