these racks on NW 13th at
PNCA. They will also add 13 more.
(Photos © J. Maus)
Mayor Adams can tick an item off his list of promises to fulfill in his first 100 days as Mayor.
Adams’ office has announced the first of four new bike corrals that will go up around Portland in the coming weeks. The new racks are coming to NW 13th street adjacent to the Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA) in the Pearl District. Slated for installation on Tuesday of next week, the City of Portland Bureau of Transportation plans to install 13 new staple racks in the place of two motor vehicle parking spaces.
“People were walking three blocks just to find a sign or a pole to lock up to.”
— Michael Hall, Dean of Students at PNCA
There are currently 14 staple racks installed at the location (paid for through a partnership between the Bureau of Transportation and a private corporation) where these new ones are going. According to Michael Hall, Dean of Students at PNCA, PBOT will remove and then reconfigure those as part of this project (because they are spaced too close to each other).
When completed, this bike parking corral will occupy three former motor vehicle parking spaces and will have 27 total staple racks — enough space for 54 bicycles. Here’s a diagram from PBOT that shows the new configuration:
Hall at PNCA says their school is in dire need of racks because this year, for the first time ever, demand has exceeded available spaces. Hall said via telephone today that, “People were walking three blocks just to find a sign or a pole to lock up to.”
Hall also said that the families of Tracey Sparling and Brett Jarolimek — two former students of PNCA that were killed in October 2007 while riding — are interested in creating a memorial roof over the bike corral. Plans for that project are likely to begin next year.
[If you’re keeping track, Adams’ first 100 days will be up in mid-May (it’s 100 business days).]