Folks who travel to downtown Oxford on two wheels will soon have more places to park thanks to the Downtown Development Authority (DDA).

Last week, the DDA board voted 6-0 to purchase 10 bicycle racks for a total of $2,904.

Made by Dero, a company based in Minneapolis, MN, each rack is capable of holding two bikes.

DDA Executive Director Glenn Pape said there’s currently a severe shortage of bicycle parking downtown. He noted the four existing bike racks are not suitable for use.

“(There’s) none of them (that) I would attach my bike to and mine’s a $99 Target special,” he said.

Pape said the current racks have an “antiquated design” that could “bend the wheel very easily” if a bike were to get knocked over while secured to one.

The new racks will be spread throughout the downtown behind the buildings and Centennial Park.

Pape wants to install them this spring and get people “in the habit” of riding their bicycles downtown, so they will be more inclined to do so during the M-24 reconstruction project next year. He hopes having more people using bicycles will help “alleviate” the traffic and parking issues the road work is expected to generate.

In a memo to the DDA board, Pape noted “the population center of Oxford and Oxford Township is within a 10-minute bicycle ride of downtown.”

DDA Board Member Nicole Ellsworth, owner of the 5-1 Diner, was supportive of the new racks.

“I know that there is a high demand for this,” she said.

Ellsworth said “every summer,” she has “big groups” of bicyclists stop at her restaurant while training for long-distance rides and races.

“They always have to chain their bikes to my patio because there’s nowhere to put them,” she said.

Once installed, Pape noted the design of the new racks is such they can be easily removed at the end of the fall season to accommodate winter snow removal, then put back in the spring.