An additional 250 bike parking spaces have been created in downtown parking garages.This bike parking was initially announced two years ago, when then-Mayor Jerry Abramson’s administration released a proposal to add more than 300 new bicycle parking spaces to downtown garages. A contract was supposed to be finalized within several months, but took two years to come to fruition.Now, 250 new bike parking spots are actually in place and not hypothetical. Public Works spokeswoman Lindsay English says the spots will hopefully persuade people to leave their cars at home.“We want to encourage people to be healthier, so that’s one reason,” she said. “It helps also with sustainability, if you’re biking and maybe commuting, then you aren’t behind the wheel of your car, so that’s going to reduce some pollution there.”The new bike racks cost nearly $14,000. They were paid for as part of an $8 million grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to the Mayor’s Healthy Hometown Movement.All the city-owned parking garages except two—the Happy Birthday Lot on West Main Street and the lot at 8th and Main—now have bike parking.
