City to unveil four new “bike corrals” downtown

A PDOT concept drawing of new on-street bike corrals coming to downtown Portland by the end of this month.
(Click to enlarge)

The City of Portland Office of Transportation has chosen National PARK(ing) Day (9/19) as the date to unveil four new on-street bike parking facilities in downtown.

The locations of these “bike corrals” — which take two motor vehicle parking spaces and replace them with parking for up to 24 bicycles — will be installed at the corners of the following locations (Note: I have placed a rudimentary yellow box in the general location where the corral will be placed):
Ace Hotel — On the south side of SW Stark at SW 10th (MAP):

(Photos thanks to Google StreetView)

Bijou Café/Stumptown Coffee — East side of SW 3rd Ave at SW Pine St (Map):

Powell’s Books (back entrance): South side of NW Couch St at NW 11th (Map):

Southpark Seafood Grill and Wine Bar — West side of SW 9th Ave/SW Park Ave at SW Salmon (Map):

According to PDOT’s bike parking manager Sarah Figliozzi (who presented the plans in front of the city’s bicycle advisory committee last night), the new bike corrals will be much different than those already installed in the Mississippi District and on SE Belmont Street. The four new corrals will be “bare bones” says Figliozzi. In an email about the project she wrote,

Sarah Figliozzi works in
PDOT’s bike program.
(Photo © J. Maus)

“We’ve removed the rubber curb and brought the corral down to the basics – pavement line markings, reflectors, and the racks. These are temporary applications (due to the minimal infrastructure) and we have plans to fill the space with something more substantial (perhaps a curb extension or concrete pad with bollards to delineate the space) at a later date (later winter – early spring) once we have finalized design approvals and engineering plans.”

Figliozzi says these downtown corrals are of an “interim” design and were installed to respond to current demand, while not wanting to wait for official new policies, funding streams, and designs to be confirmed. The idea is to get these installations out on the street, spend the fall and winter months tweaking the design (based on feedback), and then iron out the official new “policy framework” (that will include new official city guidelines on funding, design, and the request/installation process) for full program deployment by Spring 2009.

Conceptual drawing of new “bike
corrals” coming to downtown.
Click to enlarge
(Graphic: PDOT)

The existing bike corral program requires that neighborhoods or business owners shell out $3,000 or so for each one (on SE Belmont, community members received a grant from their neighborhood business association). But last night, city bike coordinator Roger Geller said they’re looking to change the policy so the city would pay.

The money for these new corrals comes out of the city’s Bike Parking Fund (which developers pay into when they opt-out of bike parking code requirements).

This photo (on NE Alberta St.) shows why
PDOT wants to install more on-street
bike corrals.
(Photo © J. Maus)

Geller thinks it’s a no-brainer that these facilities are paid for by the city; “This type of facility supports all the messages and policies the city has about biking and transportation.”

So far, design restrictions have kept bike corrals from cropping up downtown. Last summer, PDOT partnered with U-lock maker Kryptonite for two bike parking facilities in the Pearl District. One of them was installed in a parking lot next to the Pacific Northwest College of Art, but the other — which was slated to be installed on-street, in front of Acorn Cafe (539 NW 13th Ave) — has yet to happen.

Figliozzi explained last night that ‘design district’ regulations require new infrastructure to “fit the urban streetscape” and get approved by a design commission. Also, since these facilities are directly in the right-of-way (as opposed to being up on the sidewalk), safety is another consideration. “How are we going to delineate the space for bikes?,” is how Figliozzi puts it.

One idea, she says, is to put the corral up on a concrete curb extension, but that adds considerable cost. These new corrals are expected to cost in a similar range to the existing ones — $3-4,000 (compare that to about $40,000 for a “bike oasis”, which is on a curb extension and has a roof).

Ethos (at N. Wiliams and Killingsworth)
will be the first location where
PDOT’s new neighborhood
corral design will be tested.
(Photo © J. Maus)

Concurrent to these new corrals downtown, PDOT is also working on a separate design for corrals in neighborhood centers (outside downtown). The first installation of this new design will be at Ethos on N. Williams at Killingsworth. Figliozzi says that corral will be installed “in the coming weeks” and will include more substantial “delineators” including black poles and some sort of fencing barrier to encourage users to enter from the sides (not the street).

While the design of these four new corrals downtown is likely to change, Figliozzi said these locations are permanent and they do not plan on taking out the corrals unless there is a major problem with them.

PDOT hopes to have these new corrals done in time to take part in National (PARK)ing Day on September 19th. Plans also include a partnership with the Parks Department to add other park-like elements to the spaces.