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GREENWICH, Conn. If you've wondered about those bike racks that were supposed to be set up around town by now to make Greenwich more bicycle-friendly, the answer is, they're on the way.
"We have the racks and the places picked out," said Vin DeMarco, co-chairman of Greenwich Safe Cycling. "It's just a question of when to install them. It's a little slow-going."
The Greenwich Department of Public Works was slated to have several dozen racks in place at locations around town by the end of June, but none has been installed yet, according to DeMarco. DPW officials could not be reached Tuesday for comment.
"I know it will get done," DeMarco said, "but maybe I'm a little worried."
More than 35 multi-bike racks are to be set up around town and on public properties near the central business district. Locations include public parking lots and streets adjacent to Greenwich Avenue, according to draft minutes from a meeting last Sept. 7 of the Town of Greenwich Plan of Conservation and Development Downtown Plan Committee.
The racks were proposed back in 2000 during Greenwich Safe Cycling's work on a Bicycle Master Plan. Then a part of Greenwich municipal government, Greenwich Safe Cycling is now a private nonprofit. The Bicycle Master Plan's main objectives were to add more bike parking space, signage and bike lanes, DeMarco said.
"We wanted to make a more bike-friendly town," he said.
The new racks come at no cost to the town since they are covered under a Norwalk transit grant that Greenwich tagged onto, DeMarco said. He said he couldn't comment on the racks' cost, but he said they weren't a capital project, meaning the price was less than $5,000.
Nate Rex, store manager at the Cycle Center of Stamford, hadn't heard about the Greenwich bike racks. But he said having secure places to lock up bikes will encourage residents to bike more.
"It conserves resources and is great exercise," he said.
The CVS on West Putnam Avenue and the Equinox on Old Town Road already have installed bike racks of their own, DeMarco said.
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