Riviera Village Installs Bike Corral

Driving home from dinner late Thursday night, I thought I saw new bike racks installed at Avenue I and Catalina. I'm going to have to check those out when I go to the tomorrow to make sure they're not just a mirage, I thought to myself.

I didn't have to wait that long to find out—early Friday morning I heard from Redondo Beach Associate Transportation Engineer Bob Boardman, the city's go-to expert on bike infrastructure. Boardman wanted me to know that the city was proud to report that the bike racks installed in the street at the northeast corner of Avenue I and South Catalina Avenue were part of Redondo's first bike corral. He suggested I talk with Jeff Ginsburg from the Riviera Village Business Improvement District (RV BID) because it had spearheaded the installation and provided the project funding.

I knew Ginsberg as one of for the South Bay Cities Council of Government and a . I also knew he was the head honcho of , but I didn't know about his involvement with the RV BID.

I also didn't know the organization was taking such bold, proactive steps in adding new improvements for bicyclists.

The , in Redondo Beach, calls for adding more bike parking with new racks and bike corrals. But there's not even a schedule for implementation yet, so to see a bike corral suddenly just appear seemed like a gift from the bicycle gods.

In its simplest form, a bike corral takes a single car parking space and retrofits it to become parking for 10 or more bikes. It frees up pedestrian space because bikes that used to be chained to parking meters and sign posts on the sidewalk move into the street.

In the case of the Riviera Village bike corral, it actually has spaces for 16 bicycles. Because the diagonal parking space it takes up was a red zone where vehicles were not permitted to park, no complaints about losing parking spaces for cars will be heard. But replacing one pollution-emitting vehicle for 16 zero emission vehicles shouldn't be anything to complain about—especially when there are so many other advantages that come with adding bike corrals.

In Portland, OR they now have 67 bike corrals around the city, each installed with the express request or cooperation of the adjacent business. Portland businesses are reportedly eager to get new corrals installed in front of their locations. The reasons they cite are equally valid here—bicyclists increase sales in shopping districts and bike corrals create a "bike-friendly" neighborhood feel. Bike corrals also improve outdoor café environments by eliminating car fumes and car noise while liberating sidewalk space. Typically located at corners, bike corrals improve visibility at intersections for car drivers.

And by increasing visibility of bicycling they increase bicycle traffic, which makes bicycling safer for everyone.

Redondo Beach continues to lead the way when it comes to adding new bicycle infrastructure like the outstanding and the new signage around the pier. The city has shown highly effective leadership every step of the way in the Bicycle Master Plan process—including the Oct. 18 unanimous vote to approve the plan with the added recommendation that Redondo complete its portion of the seven-city vision in 12 years instead of the plan's called for 20.

As someone who rides their bike in Redondo Beach to shop at ; eat at , the , , and the ; drink coffee at , Starbucks and ; and go to the Post Office or the bank, I use and appreciate each new improvement the city makes. I especially appreciate how committed the City Council, staff and City Commissioners are to making Redondo Beach the bike-friendly city that is our destiny.

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