Bike Corrals Coming To Coronado

 

CORONADO, Calif. (May 21, 2013) - Bicyclists soon will be able to find easy and secure parking as Coronado prepares to install eight new bike corrals near its commercial district just in time for summer.

Coronado's bike corrals, special parking areas just for bicyclists, will be created from converted vehicle parking spaces on side streets near Orange Avenue. Each corral will have five closed-loop stands that allow up to 10 bicycles to park. White stripes and spring-mounted delineators will mark the corrals as off-limits to vehicles.

The San Diego County Bicycle Coalition called the Coronado City Council "forward-thinking" for approving the new bike parking spots in January. Bike corrals have been tested and used in cities across the country, including Portland, Ore., San Francisco and San Diego. The City's Bicycle Advisory Committee proposed the idea of bike corrals as a way to get people out of their vehicles during Coronado's busy summer season. By providing bike corrals near Orange, the City hopes they do some shopping as well. 

 

"Residents and visitors of Coronado frequently use their bikes to get from the beach to the bay and these new bike corrals are meant to facilitate their usage and movement around the busiest parts of our City," said Mayor Casey Tanaka. "The City Council and I are excited to see more and more people leaving their cars behind and bringing their bikes and their friends to our downtown."

 

Coronado hopes to promote both bicycle riding and the City's commercial district by placing the bike corrals near Orange Avenue but not on the state roadway, which is managed and maintained by the California Department of Transportation. Two bike corrals will be located on Orange Avenue at First and Second streets, however, that part of Orange Avenue is managed and maintained by the City.

 

Bike Corrals Map

 

The City will monitor the use of the bike corrals and report back to the City Council after the first 30 days, and again in six months. The corrals are due in next week and will be installed immediately.

Here is a map of where the bike corrals will be installed. Click on the map to enlarge it.

 

Getting the Word Out

 

The City is working to inform the community about the bike corrals with updates to its website (www.coronado.ca.us), its Facebook page (City of Coronado) and on Twitter (@CoronadoCity). A letter is being mailed to those homes and businesses near the bike corrals, informing them what to expect.

 

A flyer, which will be posted to the City's website, will be hand-delivered to adjacent homes and businesses, whose owners or occupants will be asked to post the flyers if possible. The flyers will have a QR Code, which when scanned by a smartphone will refer people to updated information on the City's website.

 

Beginning Tuesday, May 28, Public Services crews will post "No Parking" signs in the parking spaces that will be occupied by bike corrals.  The "No Parking" signs also will include the same QR Code that will be included in the flyer.

 

Bike Corral Survey

 

As soon as the corrals are installed, the City will circulate a link to a survey that will ask for community input on the new bike corrals. The survey is open to anyone in the community, whether they use the corrals or not.

 

The City also hopes to find out what local business owners, residents and bicyclists think of the new bike corrals. The results will be presented in a staff report to the City Council at a future meeting.

 

The City will inform the community when the survey is available. In addition to the survey, feedback also may be provided to Anthony Colarossi at (619) 522-2424 or via email at acoloarossi@coronado.ca.us.

 

 

Submitted by Janine Zúñiga | Senior Management Analyst | City Manager’s Office | City of Coronado