Bicyclists in Maplewood are benefiting from a federal grant to get bike racks manufactured and installed throughout St. Louis.
In 2007 the St. Louis Regional Bike Federation applied for an STP (surface transportation program) federal grant for the bike racks. The Bike Federation was merged into Trailnet in 2011, which reached out to 17 communities including Maplewood.
Maplewood received 22 bike racks from Trailnet. You may have seen some of them in the downtown shopping district.
These bike racks have been in place for several years. I have yet to see anyone use one. But maybe I am just inattentive.
With all the other “street furniture”,eg, light poles, parking signs, even trees that a bike can be hitched to, what is the need for these (probably expensive) racks ?