Downtown Partnership adds new bike racks

Bike parking is gearing up on Franklin Street — and the Downtown Partnership added a dozen new bike spots to prove it.

The racks, which were installed across from McDonald’s, offer additional parking for 12 bicycles, according to the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership’s website.

With expanded downtown parking, students, residents and visitors will not be forced to lock their bikes to unstable objects, such as trashcans.

George Spencer, a sophomore at UNC, said he was familiar with the frustrations involved in finding a place to park his bike downtown.

“Whenever I go to Franklin, there are always bikes just sitting on the sidewalk and in front of Walgreens,” he said.

“There is never any open bike parking, so I always have to get creative.”

But Spencer was not comfortable with resorting to creative parking — like chaining his bike to a trash can — because of higher theft risks, he said.

“When I do that, I have to be quick with what I’m doing, so I don’t usually spend over 10 minutes in a store or restaurant,” he said.

Bobby Funk, assistant director at the Downtown Partnership, said he thinks the new parking spaces will benefit surrounding businesses because bikers can feel more comfortable leaving their bikes for longer amounts of time.

“I believe the (bike) corral will increase the amount of people who come to downtown,” Funk said.

Funk said because parking on sidewalks is not as easy and safe as parking in designated areas, West Franklin Street was the best place to build the corral.

Although the corral replaced a car parking spot, Funk said he was confident there will be no issues with car parking because of other lots nearby.

“People parking on West Franklin have a lot of options,” he said. “There are several off-street lots in the area, and there is a lot of available street parking.”

Some students said they thought the new bike parking opportunity was a good investment for downtown, even though a car parking space was taken away to build it.

Bo Warren, a sophomore at UNC, said he thought bike parking should take more of a priority during the school week.

“But on the weekends when people come to have dinner or watch a movie, I think car parking is more of a priority,” he said.

UNC sophomore Andrew Kuster also said he thought the new bike parking was a necessity.

“As someone who has a bike and not a car, bike parking is definitely a priority for me,” Kuster said.

“I know more people who bike to Franklin rather than drive there. When you’re as close to Franklin as most students, driving becomes more of an inconvenience.”