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Final approvals in place for a citywide bike corral design

The City is one step closer to seeing more on-street bike parking areas, or “bike corrals.”  Pittsburgh installed its first bike corral in May in front of the OTB Bike Cafe on East Carson St in the South Side, a PennDOT owned street.

Now that the Art Commission gave the thumbs up to the Bike/Ped Coordinator’s design, the final approvals are in place to install more bike corrals on city-owned streets.

Click here to see the approved bike corral design and specs (pdf)

Cities across the country have been installing bike corrals to address an increase in people using bikes and their need for a place to park them.  Typically, bikes lock to signs or bike racks located on sidewalks.  However, in some places, the narrow sidewalks often get cluttered, making it difficult for pedestrians to get by. The idea of the bike corral is to make a “parking swap,” and use the space that previously accommodated one vehicle in order to accommodate multiple vehicles, increasing the parking capacity of a business district. Typically one parking space can accommodate about 10 bicycles.

Thanks to CDCP, the Studio for Spatial Practice, and the City of Pittsburgh Bike/Ped Coordinator for making this happen.

Get ready for BikeFest, a fifteen-day celebration of bicycling, August 5th-19th. The activities kick off with Pedal Pittsburgh on August 5th’ which includes a car-free section and a  finish line festival. On August 10th the Bike Fest Party returns to the Pittsburgh Opera in the Strip District.