Police Will Lock Up Bicycles Blocking Ramps for Disabled

The University Police next week will begin attaching an additional lock to bicycles repeatedly parked on access ramps for the disabled

Police officials said yesterday that the new policy is a response to requests by the Association for a Better earning Environment (ABLE), an advocacy group for the disabled, and Thomas E. Crookes '49, special assistant to Dean of the Faculty Henry Rosovsky

Crookes, who coordinates services for undergraduates with disabilities, said he wrote the police suggesting stringent measures after the tire of a student's wheelchair was punctured by the pedal of a parked bike

University Police Sgt Larry Fennelly said yesterday that security guards in the Yard will mark illegally parked bikes with a tag warning the owner that the bike will be immobilized with Harvard's answer to the "Denver Boot" -an additional padlock if the offense is repeated

Owners of bikes the police impound will have to show some identification to have their bike freed, and a report will be filed with the University, Fennelly added. He refused to disclose who would receive the reports

Permanent warning signs will also be placed near the ramps. Fennelly said, adding the principal targets of the new measures will be the ramps at Boylston and Seven halls

"People don't think about how important the ramps are," said ABLE Vice President Ram Kronick '84, adding that the ramps also help the elderly and parents with small children

University Guard Peter Skillman, who patrols in the Yard, said that most cyclists park on the outside of the ramps, but their bikes pedals, handlebars, and wheels stick through the railing

One cyclist whose bike was tagged yesterday complained that bike racks do not offer adequate protection for quick-release wheels. But Fennelly said that a new rack was placed near Emerson and more will be added the year