Bicycle Committee Reviews Plans for Bike Storage Room in Assembly Square

If the city approves funding to convert the Assembly Square industrial area to a mixed-use neighborhood, the development could include free indoor bike storage and outdoor bike parking.  

A representative from SSG Development presented a design plan for a 204-square-foot bike storage room to the Somerville Bicycle Advisory Committee at its April meeting. Later, SSG received a special building permit from the city to carry out the plan.

The room would be part of a building also slated for a community meeting room, shops, a café and offices, according to the blueprint. Bike parking would be available outside, said Jeff Hodess, who is managing the project.

The plan will be up in the air, however, until the Board of Aldermen votes on a proposed $25 million bond to fund infrastructure for Assembly Square.

Hodess said that the room could fit between 30 and 40 bikes, depending on the layout of the racks.

He also said that the space would cater to people who commute to Assembly Square for work and to others needing bike storage during the winter. He indicated it would still be available to accommodate additional users.

Kathleen Ziegenfuss, the city’s liaison to the Bicycle Committee, said she supported the design.

“I think this is a good thing because people really don’t have a place to put [bikes] in the winter,” she said.

Users would register their bikes and receive a sticker that proves their registration and marks which space in the room is theirs. 

Hodess said there would be several ways to ensure the safety of the bikes. First, users would have to type a personal identification number (PIN) into a keypad to enter the room. A full-time building manager and security cameras would monitor the room, and cyclists would lock their bikes inside it.

Committee member Alex Epstein suggested that the developer ensure that the doors to the room were wide enough so that users could easily get their bikes through them.

Hodess said he intended the room to always be open unless the city determined that would jeopardize the security of the bikes. He said that if necessary, the keypad could lock users out at a certain time. 

Hodess said he would be at the committee’s May meeting to further discuss the plan.