Arrival of spring brings reopening of Bike Annex

UW–Madison’s Bike Annex will reopen on Thursday, April 7, beginning its second year of operation.

The facility, located in the middle of Lot 60 on the west end of campus, offers free maintenance classes to university employees and students who bike to work or class. It also provides them with an opportunity to do maintenance work on their bikes free of charge, and it has a selection of professional-quality tools that can be checked out for that purpose.

The grand reopening will be held from noon-7 p.m. Members of the campus community are invited to visit the facility, enjoy refreshments and have their bikes looked over and adjusted by a professional mechanic from Budget Bicycle Center, who will be on hand from 2-5 p.m.

The Bike Annex is a component of the Bucky’s Ambassadors program offered through UW Transportation Services.

The Bucky’s Ambassadors program, started in the fall of 2003, has been a campus success, says Matthew Burczyk, the university’s bicycle and pedestrian coordinator.

Burcyzk says the ambassadors will be back out on the streets this spring, working to encourage bicycling and walking as modes of transportation, helping to educate people about the laws that govern those modes and promoting bicycle and pedestrian safety.