FORT GREENE — The Department of Transportation plans to install four new bike corrals — a group of bicycle parking racks installed in the street instead of on the sidewalk — in Fort Greene and Clinton Hill.
The proposal will provide a total of 46 bike racks: 16 near the BRICArts Media House on Rockwell Place and Fulton Street, 12 outside of Fulton Bikes at 1580 Fulton St., eight near the Clinton-Washington C train stop on Fulton Street and Washington Avenue and 10 new spots outside Hungry Ghost Café on S. Oxford Street and Fulton Avenue.
"This design is a great solution for places where demand for bicycle parking outstrips the available sidewalk space," the DOT wrote on its website.
The spots were identified by local businesses and organizations — Fulton Bikes, BRICArts, and Fulton Area Business Alliance — which have agreed to maintain the sites.
The new corrals will be a boon to cyclists who often choose to risk illegally locking bikes to tree guards, street signs, trees, gates, or fencing as a last resort because they'd rather get a ticket than have their bikes get swiped.
"I feel like a lot of times I am forced to lock my bike to something that might be illegal because it's not easy to find a bike corral," said musician Aussie Saavedra, 22. "Or I have to walk a block looking for somewhere to lock up and won't find anything at all."
If approved, the bike corrals would eliminate a total of three parking spots.
All of the sites were approved by Community Board 2's Transportation Committee on March 18. The full board will vote to approve the proposal on April 9 at 6 p.m. in the Pfizer Auditorium at 5 Metrotech Center.
The corrals could be installed as soon as spring 2014, according to the DOT.
