Winter removal of 2 city bike racks on Dundas riles cyclists

Some London cyclists are unhappy at the city's decision to remove large bike racks from two locations on Dundas Street, but the city says the racks interfere with snow clearing and will be back in place by spring.

The corrals — large aluminum racks each able to hold up to 14 bikes — are designed to be placed in a curbside parking spot.

The city bought the corrals in 2016, placing them in two locations on the south side of Dundas Street: outside the Central Library entrance at 251 Dundas and in Old East Village, just east of the Adelaide intersection. 

The corrals were removed by city crews on Tuesday, prompting an almost immediate response from the cycling community on social media. 

Paul Seale is the community relations manager of the Old East Village Grocer. 

He'd rather see the racks stay, saying they encourage shoppers to bring their bikes. 

"If cyclists can't be sure to find an adequate place to park, they may choose not to ride at all and then they make different choices about where they shop," he said. 

Seale criticized the rack removal on Twitter, and called for an "outcry" from others who want the racks to stay.

Some cycling groups tweeted their support. 

Jay Stanford of the city's Environmental & Engineering Services department says the corrals can't stay in place over winter because they interfere with snow removal. 

He said plowed snow would become packed inside the racks and freeze, making them difficult to clear and impossible for cyclists to use. 

"You'd be hand-digging them out," he told CBC News. The racks were removed ahead of last winter and put back in place this spring, something Stanford said will happen again this year. 

Stanford also said the racks — which each cost $5,000 — could be damaged by snowplows.

Corrals and snow plows a bad mix, city says

Responding to concerns that removing the corrals takes lockup spots away for riders, Stanford the number of cyclists drops in the winter. He said the city has between 100 and 150 permanent bike posts and another 40 to 50 bike racks at other locations on public property in the city, including outside libraries, arenas and community centres. 

Stanford said cyclists' concern about the seasonal corral removal "is a good thing" because it shows a growing interest in the availability of year-round spots to lock up bikes. 

He also said the city is looking to add more corrals at other spots in the city, including locations where they won't interfere with snow clearing and can stay in place year-round. 

Seale, however, said the city should find a way to keep the corrals in place. He said this would send a welcome pro-cycling message from city hall.

"It's probably easiest to clear the roads if you don't have to clear around a bike racks, but not everything is easy," he said. "If the city wants to be the kind of city it says it wants to be, then it will find ways to accommodate pedestrians and cyclists and motorists who will benefit if more people choose to take their bikes."

• Bicycle bike racks make return to downtown Kitchener after outcry

In Kitchener the city removed smaller sidewalk bike racks in October — also to make way for snow clearing — but decided to put them back after cyclists and business owners complained.