Rack ‘Em Up! CDOT Installed 400+ Racks in the Last Month

It's a rack-stravaganza! After a 27-month period with only 150 Chicago Department of Transportation bike racks installed due to bureaucratic snags and bolt procurement woes, CDOT's installation crews are back in business installing hundreds of parking fixtures, just in time for peak bike season. (Disclosure: I worked for the department arranging bike rack installations in the early 2000s.)

The current bike rack contract, with memorably named installer Speedy Gonzalez Landscaping, includes 4,000 of the standard "inverted U" fixtures, which comfortably hold two bikes each, plus installation. (You can cram more on there if you really need to.) The contract runs through 2021.

The contract also includes installations for 450 more branded racks purchased by local Special Service Areas, funded by a special tax levied on businesses within the SSA district. Between February 28 and March 7, crews installed 427 U racks, which was, in fact, fairly speedy. That included 399 of the standard racks and 28 for Wicker Park-Bucktown's SSA#33.

This was the first time the standard racks have had a plain gray galvanized finish, rather than the usual smooth, glossy black powdercoat surface. CDOT officials said they made the switch because galvanized racks are cheaper and lower-maintenance. I feel they're also somewhat less attractive than powdercoated racks, but the newly installed fixtures have a smooth, rather than mottled, galvanized appearance, so they're not as ugly as I expected they'd be. They are, however, somewhat rough to the touch, so use care when locking up to avoid scratching the finish on your bike.

The contract also includes installation for up to 200 on-street bike parking corrals, ideally four in each of the 50 wards. CDOT will be sending an announcement to alderman in April seeking input from them and their constituents on potential locations for new corrals and bike racks. These corrals can provide dozens of bike parking spaces in the same amount of curbside asphalt that a couple of cars would occupy, freeing up sidewalk space for pedestrians.

Four new corrals are slated for installation this spring, including sites by Mitchell Elementary, Dovetail Brewery, Beguile Brewing, and Beans & Bagels cafe. Roughly 25 to 30 more locations for bike corrals are currently pending, with CDOT in the process of surveying those sites.

Below a full list of bike corrals slated for installation, as well as 20 more existing bike corrals. (CDOT says there are at least 22 existing corrals total.) And – good news for Belgian beer fans – the Hopleaf Bar in Andersonville plans to reinstall its corral, which went AWOL all last year due to utility work, on April Fool's Day.

You can request the installation of bike racks or corrals on the city's bike parking request page. 

Bike corrals inventory