(Photos © J. Maus)
Portland’s bike parking offerings continue to improve in both quality and quantity. Recently I’ve noticed two developments in North Portland worth your attention: a new on-street bike corral on N. Williams Avenue and a nice covering of a corral on N. Mississippi.
This new on-street corral on Williams is located just south of N. Fargo out in front of Waypost Cafe, a community gathering spot that has been in need of more bike parking for a long time. (Just a block north of this corral is another one situated on a curb extension). This is the fifth on-street bike corral on Williams — more than any other street in Portland (I stand corrected. Alberta has seven!).
A bit north and west of the Williams bike parking are the newly covered bike racks in the Mississippi Marketplace food cart pod. Located outside the popular Prost pub at the corner of Mississippi and Skidmore, this bike parking corral has been given a very nice cover to keep you out of the elements as you lock up. And yes, just a few feet away is an on-street bike corral.
City of Portland bike parking program manager Sarah Figliozzi says Portland now has 64 on-street bike corrals that provide space for 1,140 bicycles in what was previously room for only 107 automobiles. There are few things that make bicycling more pleasant than having ample and high quality bike parking directly in front of cafes and businesses. PBOT is leading the charge on this front and with each new corral that goes up we get closer to being a city where the car/bike balance is a bit closer to where it should be.