Balboa Island gets Newport’s first bike corral

In an effort to add more bicycle parking closer to businesses, Newport Beach’s first bike corral was installed this week on Balboa Island.

The sapphire-blue hoop racks are on the street in front of a no-parking section of the 200 block of Marine Avenue, not far from the post office.

“We don’t have this type of installation anywhere,” said Newport Beach Traffic Engineer Tony Brine. “This is the first time the city has put together a group of racks to create a corral.”

He said the five-rack corral was customized for Balboa Island with an image and a logo at a cost of $2,000.

“The new bike racks have been a long time coming,” said City Councilman Jeff Herdman, who represents Balboa Island. “There will be more installed in the 100 block as well.”

SUSAN HOFFMAN is a contributor to Times Community News.