Adopt-A-Rack Contract Inches Along

As any Philly bicyclist knows, the City's bike rack shortage is getting worse every day. Along major commerical corridors, racks are so full of bikes that cyclists are using poles, trash cans and sadly, even trees (please don't use trees!), to lock their bikes up.

The Bike Coalition is working to get more bike racks installed by both the City and private property owners. Here's the latest we can report on the City's effort to install more U racks.

In 2002, Philadelphia won a competive $320,000 award from the feds through the Congestion Mitigation Air Quality (CMAQ) program for an "Adopt-a-rack" program. But, the contract was bogged down for a long time, and only recently got sorted out. Nevertheless, contracts move slowly in Philadelphia, and it is still working its way through the contractural legal review process. The latest we heard from the Streets Department is that the contract will be ready by the end of August. Once completed, the contract should result in the installation of 1200 new inverted U racks on sidewalks where business districts or other property owners sign maintenance agreements.

The Streets Department may also use the contract to buy some equipment to build several in-street bike parking facilities at overcrowded locations, similar to the ones the Bike Coalition demonstrated in May.

Click here to see a google map prepared by John Boyle of the Bicycle Coalition on the locations of where new racks will be installed by the "Adopt-a-rack" contract.