New public buildings and bike parking: Elektra primary and nursery school

We investigated the final bike parking solutions for both projects. In the second part of this series, we will examine the bike parking situation at the Elektra primary and nursery school within a new development in Vysočany, which is located right next to the Vysočany railway cycle path.

Elektra primary and nursery school

The school on U Elektry Street was officially opened in September 2023 in a newly developed area in Prague’s Vysočany district. The investor and operator is the Prague 9 city district. The school project had been in the works for many years and was highly anticipated. Many people were undoubtedly relieved when it was finally completed and opened last year.

However, along with the opening, a widely discussed issue arose regarding the entrance to the school, raised by the opposition Pirate Party in Prague 9. The opposition criticized the entrance for being unfriendly to children arriving on foot (the space is dominated by a „K+R“ parking lot, or „car turnaround“), and also pointed out the complete lack of bike racks.

The absence of bike parking solutions is particularly striking given that the school is located right next to the key A26 cycle route, which runs along the former railway line through the entire new residential development. Over the past 15 years, we have written several times about how this new district with a central cycle path has minimal connectivity to the path itself, and we will revisit the topic again in the future. But for now, let’s take a closer look at the parking situation at the school itself.

Bike racks at the school

Establishing quality bike parking at a school located next to what is considered a premium cycle path by Prague standards might seem logical. However, during discussions with stakeholders, we confirmed that no bike shelter or racks were installed during the school’s construction.

Bike parking was not addressed during construction; the solution was left to the principal

Marie Kurková, spokesperson for Prague 9, explained to Městem na kole in May that the current solution is temporary, and a permanent one could be expected at the start of the upcoming school year: “For this school year, Elektra primary and nursery school is operating only as an extension of Novoborská primary school. It was opened three months after final approval and is currently only attended by lower-grade students. The school will open as an independent entity in September 2024, and changes are expected to take place during the summer holidays. Parents and the public have been repeatedly informed that Elektra School is not yet operating ‚fully,‘ meaning some facilities (including bike racks) will be added. The city district of Prague 9, as the school’s founder, has left the placement of bike racks up to the future school principal; the current solution is temporary.”

The absence of a bike shelter at a school located next to one of the better and more continuous cycle paths in Prague is surprising. This path will connect the school to a wider catchment area, especially after the completion of additional sections of paths that will link the school to the new developments around Kolbenova Street.

The situation is particularly interesting considering that Prague City Hall has been offering a bike shelter program for schools for several years, through which it provides existing schools with the opportunity to install bike parking facilities. While city hall is equipping already established schools with bike racks and shelters, and the program is facing high demand, the city district has built a new school next to a cycle path without any bike shelter.

We looked into whether the absence of a bike shelter might have been influenced by a rumored incident, where parents from another school in Prague 9 allegedly sued the city district over a stolen scooter from the building of a public school. „I arrived at the grand opening by bike along the A26 cycle path, but I had nowhere to park it. I immediately asked a city hall employee, who was responsible for the entire construction, about the bike racks and why the school’s entrance area was designed so poorly. I was told, ‚there was no other option.‘ The absence of bike racks was explained by the stolen scooter at another school in District 9,” explained Václav Vislous, chairman of the opposition Pirate Party in Prague 9, when describing the case to Městem na kole.

The spokesperson for Prague 9 did not respond to this part of our inquiry. However, from informal conversations with other people familiar with the political environment of Prague 9, it seems unlikely that the absence of a bike shelter at the school was primarily due to this lawsuit against the city district. More commonly, it was suggested that it simply wasn’t considered a significant issue.

“The aspect of parking and creating a safe area in front of the school wasn’t important enough for the city hall to pay sufficient attention to. This is evident in the ‘bike rack’ issue, where there was a long debate about who would place it and where. It was simply an afterthought, not something that was considered from the beginning. If it had been a clear priority in the initial requirements, this would never have happened. The fault clearly lies with the project owner, who didn’t set the demand for a safe space in front of the school,” commented Vislous on the issue of adding wire mesh racks later.

Space for bike racks was found only as an afterthought

The issue of parking at the school is not isolated. Several other aspects related to non-motorized mobility are currently being discussed in the Vysočany development area. During the preparation of this article, topics such as poor north-south connections across the emerging development and the slow implementation of promised cycle paths, which could provide much-needed non-motorized access, were frequently mentioned.

The low priority given to cycling accessibility in the new district is also illustrated by the lack of willingness to further improve cycling connections from the Vysočany path to the surrounding area. In feedback about the introduction of paid parking zones on Modrého Street, the question was raised whether the city district could improve the cycling connection from the path to Modrého Street. Besides the fact that the recently built descent from the cycle path does not meet technical standards for allowing bicycle use, the Prague 9 office also wrote the following: “Additionally, the adjustment would require modifying the descent and removing parking spaces, which are not abundant in Prague 9.”

This could be one of the routes through which children could access the recently opened Elektra School from the cycle path. Moreover, we are dealing with a newly built district where all the buildings typically include underground garages as part of their construction, so theoretically, there should be enough parking spaces available.

What will be the final placement of bike and scooter parking?

According to the statement from the spokesperson for Prague 9 in May, the issue of bike shelters or racks was not addressed during construction, and the city district essentially relinquished this responsibility, passing it on to the new principal, who was appointed to lead the school as of this July.

We asked the new principal if he plans to make any changes regarding bike and scooter parking at Elektra primary and nursery school for the new school year. He did not respond before the article’s deadline, but we will update this text if a statement is provided.

It should be noted that shifting responsibility to the school principal, who is coming into a nearly completed building, is problematic in some respects. In general, it is easier to address such issues directly during construction.

Prague building regulations on bicycle parking are currently non-binding, but they clearly state that bike parking areas should be established, particularly at public facilities. However, no such facilities were included during the construction of Elektra Primary and Nursery School.

This raises the question of whether the city can motivate anyone to follow these non-binding recommendations if it does not adhere to them in its own public facility projects, only installing bike racks later under public and opposition pressure.

We asked local politicians involved in the issue how satisfied they were with the current building regulations concerning parking in the context of the construction of Elektra primary and nursery school. Are the parking requirements for cars and bicycles well established, or do they need changes?

Schools must have car parking, but not bike parking

„According to legislation, the school must have parking spaces for cars, and the solution implemented has been positively evaluated by the traffic police and BESIP, considering the possibilities of the site and its surroundings,“ replied Marie Kurková, spokesperson for Prague 9.

„As for parking spaces, it makes no sense to me that large underground garages for dozens of cars are being built, but no safe space for parking micromobility, such as bikes and scooters, has been created. It would be enough to convert a few underground parking spaces into a secure storage area for scooters and bikes, possibly with a camera and chip-access cage,“ responded Václav Vislous (Pirates).