Morning Headlines: Artist-Designed Bike Rack Winners Will Be Available This Summer

Which one is your favorite?

Photo credit: Bicycle Coalition of Great Philadelphia.

Some of the new designs.
Photo credit: Bicycle Coalition of Great Philadelphia.

Cyclists will soon get to test the functionality of last year’s bike rack design contest winners, which are currently on display at City Hall until June 17th. They will be made available for public beta testing sometime this summer.

According to the Inquirer’s Inga Saffron, the prototypes range from cute to elegant, with all adhering to the practicality requirement from the competition. But has the true bike rack issue been addressed? Maybe not.

In Saffron’s words:

But the real problem with bike racks in Philadelphia isn’t design, it’s supply. Although the Nutter administration has added nearly 1,500 racks in Center City and University City, and retrofitted some 1,600 meter stands, the parking crunch is often severe in places where millennials congregate – in Fishtown at the Frankford Hall-Johnny Brenda’s nexus, around Rittenhouse Square, and along East Passyunk Avenue.

Following this summer’s testing (rumor has it at Penn Plaza during PHS’s beer pop-up), the racks will be permanently placed in locations such as the “Cira Centre, Boathouse Row, and Sister Cities Plaza.”

Designers aim for a better bike rack [Changing Skyline]

Meanwhile in other news…

Amid Old City’s blooming, pockets of neglect [Inquirer]

CHOP plans could impact South Street Bridge bike lanes  [PlanPhilly]

French building firm chooses Malvern for new U.S. HQ [PhillyDeals]

Proposal for high-tech displays in Philly greeted by signs of disapproval [NewsWorks]