Leave the Car at Home; Coronado's Temporary Bike Corrals Are Staying

The bicycle corrals are staying... at least for now. Coronado City Council unanimously approved keeping seven of the eight bike corrals on a temporary bases at Tuesday night's meeting at City Hall. The city also directed the Bicycle Committee (BAC) to meet with staff and other interested stakeholders—businesses and residents—to develop a comprehensive bike parking plan that includes off-street and on-street parking.

Only the corral on First Street across from Nicky Rottens, which not highly used, will be removed.

Concerns over safety and loss of parking for cars were the chief concerns expressed by opponents.

“Prevent potential accidents and provide more convenient, accessible and safe parking and to restore the parking balance in downtown,” MainStreet’s Rita Sarich told the council.

If the council approved the corrals, she asked that the design process be inclusive. “We did this to select street furniture. We should do the same for bike parking,” Sarich said.

She was referring to the committee that helped chose benches, trash cans and other sidewalk fixtures as part of the city’s Downtown Enhancement Program. The committee included representatives from business community, civic organizations and the city council.

The committee just didn’t look at aesthetics, Sarich noted. "We also looked at durability and historical relevance," she added.

Mayor Casey Tanaka took up her idea and suggested that a board coalition be brought into help develop a comprehensive bike parking plan.    

The corrals were installed last May on a temporary bases to gage public reaction.

The city counted the number of bikes in each corral three times, interviewed people using the corrals and posted a survey on the City of Coronado’s website. Some 200 people responded, Jim Newton, who oversaw the corrals reported.

Still their impact seemed nebulous. 

In general the corrals were popular with cyclists. The two on Tenth Street were especially popular. Each on average had 3 bikes parked in them.

There were two incidents, one antidotal and one observed by staff, of cars running over the outside corner of a corral while trying to make a right turn on Tenth Street.

Bikes in the corrals weren’t stolen at a higher or lesser rate than bikes parked in other locations.

Loss of parking space for cars was an issue with people who responded to the survey. Of the 37 people who said they wanted a corral removed, more than half cited loss of parking as the reason.

“The biggest thing we learned,” Newton said. “Was that people don’t want to cross Orange or walk more to get to their destination.” He pointed to the number of people who locked their bike to a tree or parking meter in front of Boney’s or Nicky Rottens rather than using the corral on First Street.