Eyes on the Street: Bike Corral Appears on Glendale Boulevard in Atwater

I like the palm trees. Daveed doesn't. Photo: Daveed Kapoor.

In the two years since LADOT installed its first bike corral in front of Cafe de Leche on York Boulevard in Northeast Los Angeles, things have been quiet on the bike corral front. Yes, there were reports of Metro funding an expansion of the program, and there is that “other corral” that’s part of the Sunset Triangle Plaza; but overall the “bike corral program” has been disappointing.

That’s beginning to change. Last month, LADOT announced plans for another 7-10 corrals to pop up in the near future around the city. Yesterday, that promise began to become true as a corral was installed in Atwater Village at 3147 Glendale Boulevard in front of Kaldi Coffee. Streetsblogger Daveed Kapoor parked his bike there, snapped the above picture and offered a quick review.

In short, the new LADOT design, which staff confirmed will be used in the rest of the corrals, is sturdier than the one in York Boulevard. It is designed to only be accessed from the sidewalk to prevent queuing bike parkers from spilling out into the bike lane or roadway, a standard design feature in many cities. 

In addition to the additional half dozen promised by LADOT, the soon to be launched People St program promises even more bike parking. Los Angeles had to wait 230 years for its first bike corral, and another two and a half to get two more; but it now appears that more and more car parking spaces are going to be opened up for bicycle use.

  • Joe B

    Can we have car parking spaces designed to only be accessed from the sidewalk as well? Queueing car parkers spilling out into the bike lane is kind of dangerous as well.

  • Anonymous

    I like the decorative tall end caps on the corral and the height of the railing along its length. This helps to mask the clutter of bicycles without totally hiding them from view and keeps bike and rider away from motor vehicle traffic. Its a nicer and cleaner look than what appears to be exposed plumbing for the installations in Portland.

    The black color does not add much flair. Maybe its like clothing in that almost every other color goes with it. Or, perhaps this was done because LADOT did not want to have a color that is already being used as a road marking or pick a color that would be a mismatch for some businesses, or areas. It is more distinctive looking than apartment beige though.

  • rickrise

    The sidewalk queueing bit is specious. Portland’s ONE HUNDRED bike corrals work just fine without any such feature, and don’t impede car traffic. Portland has a lot of car traffic too. I was there just last month looking over their bike infrastructure. (On my own nickel too.)

    And does this corral accommodate two bikes per element, and let both of them lock front wheel and frame to the rack? If not, it’s just half a corral. We ran a bike rack “competition at Bicycle Fixation a few years ago; to seee some good (and horrible) racks, go to http://bicyclefixation.com/rackhunt_results.html

    If this is the new standard for bike racks, it had better work to park actual bicycles securely in a difficult city.

    Well, I’m planning on being there tomorrow (11/2, for the ribbon cutting; see http://orange20bikes.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=1174:ribbon-cutting-for-la-s-2nd-bike-corral). This is a big deal, especially as it ties in with the Glendale/Hyperion bridge issue.

  • Anonymous

    Accessed only from the sidewalk? Wait, I thought we weren’t supposed to be riding on the sidewalk. And how would one get from the sidewalk to this particular corral? By going over the Atwater Village sign, or through the bushes? Sure, this corral is better than nothing, but lets not solve one problem by creating another one, OK?

  • Bill

    Just like the LADOT to be ASS BACKWARDS

  • Anonymous

    WATCH OUT! There is a lot of slippery paint around that bike prison!

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