Milwaukee’s Third Bike Corral

The owners of Cafe Hollander on Downer Avenue installed Milwaukee’s third bike corral today. The first was installed by Colectivo Coffee on Prospect Ave. The second was installed by the Nomad World Pub on Warren and Brady Streets. So far none of these have taken away any legal parking spaces for cars, but cars used to stop illegally to run in and pick up coffee in the spot where Colectivo put in their bike corral.

All these racks have been paid for by the owners of the adjoining cafes. It’s great that business owners see the value that bicycle parking adds to their bottom line. It’s also great that they see bicycles as a more efficient way to get more customers, given that automotive parking is so inefficient.

In Minneapolis, Nice Ride Minnesota bikeshare stations are also installed on the street. This makes finding open spaces a lot easier. Typically it is difficult to find empty right of way in the walk area between the curb and the building fronts. Putting the bike parking in the street where the cars park also leaves more open right of way for sidewalk cafes.

According to the Ithmus, Madison has plans for two bike corrals to be installed by the end of the month. The Madison bike corrals will be installed in a parking stall in front of the Tipsy Cow on King Street, and another will go in on Harrison Street at Trader Joe’s. Each corral will have a capacity of 10 to 12 seasonal bicycle parking spaces.