SWFBUD Attends Bike Commuter Meeting At HOK Office in Tampa Today

SWFBUD visited the HOK architectural firm's offices in downtown Tampa at lunchtime to meet several HOK employees who bike to work and who want to see what can be done to improve the bicycling scene in and around the downtown Tampa area so that more bike-commuters can reach downtown.

I, along with some other bicycle folks such as regulars Karen Kress and Jim Shirk and a couple of city staffers, met with several HOK workers and others to discuss bike commuting. We talked about making out streets complete for not only cars but also for bicyclists and pedestrians, too, and getting bike lanes on roads identified under the bike lane master plan.

And I'd love to see Platt Street with a bike lane -- something that Mayor Pam Iorio promised last year at a Seminole Heights Bicycle Club and never came through with.

I also met Sandy Ballestra, building manager of the Tampa City Center where HOK has its offices on the 18th floor. She showed me some terrific inside bicycle storage space that bike commuters can use inside the Tampa City Center.

SWFBUD says job well done to Sandy for creating indoor bicycle storage space for bike commuters.