London office ditches 16 car parking spaces .. to make room for 70 bikes

At the end of a week when the cyclist counter on the Embankment ticked over the half million-mark less than four months after it was installed, here’s more evidence of the rise of cycle commuting in London;  the owners of an office block in the heart of the City are ditching 16 car parking spaces and replacing them with space to park 70 bikes as well as installing shower facilities and lockers.

Details of the changes at Cheapside House, a stone’s throw from St Paul’s Cathedral and on the route of next month’s Mr Porter Nocturne, have been lodged with the City of London Corporation’s planning department and were spotted by capital blogger Ian Visits.

The office block was built in the late 1950s and, in common with many built during that period, had an underground car park, accessible by a ramp at the rear of the building, which currently has space for 21 cars.

Under the plans lodged with the Corporation of London, just five will remain – and the 16 spaces freed up will accommodate more than four times as many bikes as cars that were parked there previously, while also providing facilities for bike commuters to clean up and store their clothes after their journey in.

As Ian says, “That number alone gives you an idea of how much space is ‘wasted’ by car parking spaces.”