The Akron Zoo has made biking to the zoo more user friendly today as it unveiled a brand new bike shelter. The bike shelter coincides with the newly installed connector trail last year from the Towpath Trail as part of the Ohio & Erie Canalway Coalition’s iTowpath project.

 The bike shelter is located in the zoo’s parking lot adjacent to the Metro Bus stop allowing guests to ride their bike to the zoo and then use the metro bus to return home if they choose.  Alternative transportation, like riding the bus and biking, helps reduce fossil fuels and reduces carbon emissions that contribute to climate change. The bike shelter includes lockers, a bike fix-it station, complete with an air pump and tools to do minor bike repairs. The zoo has also painted sharrows in the parking lot, which are shared-lane markings indicating where people should cycle. The bike shelter was designed by Environmental Design Group and constructed by A Crano Excavating Group.

 Last year the City of Akron, along with the Ohio & Erie Canalway Coalition completed a connector trail from the Towpath Trail on Bartges Street to the zoo. Once bikers exit the trail on Bartges Street they can ride down Raymond Street and turn right on Euclid Ave. and will arrive at the entrance of the zoo. The trail is about one mile in length and marked with signage and animal prints. The connector project was funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.