Bike Rack coming to downtown Cleveland

CLEVELAND - The delayed downtown Cleveland Bike Rack is back on track.

Last October, city officials had hoped to break ground for a bike station but a change in design as well as paperwork involved with using federal stimulus money delayed the project.

The newer design will be more environmentally friendly as well.

The bike station is a relatively new concept in the U.S. and aimed at making a place available for people who commute to work on a bicycle. Cleveland is an early entrant into the bike station business. Many of the early bike stations in the world are in Europe.

The Bike Rack will be a place where cyclists can secure their bike and change clothes. It will have a locker room complete with a shower. It will accommodate 40 to 50 bikes inside and have room on a patio for 10 to 15 more.

The facility will be operated by the Downtown Cleveland Alliance and will have a membership fee.

According to Sheri Drake with the Downtown Cleveland Alliance, an annual fee will be about $150, a monthly pass $25 or a daily pass for $5. A once-a-year membership fee will be $15.

The Bike Rack will be in the Gateway Parking Garage at East 4th and High Street near Quicken Loans Arena and should be open in early 2011.

Web extra: Video player contains file story from one year ago .