A Coral Springs resident who is running for the post of city commissioner wants the city to make use of a county program that provides bike parking facilities free of cost.

Mark Gendal, an optometrist by profession, brought the issue up before the City Commission last week. “Bike racks are very important. It will encourage people to ride their bikes,” he said. “When gas goes up again, more people can save money by riding their bikes. These bike racks are free, functional and beautiful; all you need to do is install and take care of them.”

The bike racks project will provide bicycle parking facilities to commercial property owners, local governments and businesses within Broward. Implemented by the Broward Metropolitan Planning Organization, the program will be funded through the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality program of the Transportation Efficiency Act for the 21st Century.

“The objective is to get cars off the road,” Gendal said. “They want to encourage the use of bicycles for personal transportation as an alternative to motor vehicles. That will improve the air quality and reduce air pollution. We can use the program to make the city better.”

Mayor Scott Brook wanted the city to find out more about the project. “We will take a look at it and see if we can have a discussion in two weeks,” he said. “I brought up the idea of adding more bike racks a few months ago. I am all for more bike racks. I will push for an ordinance that requires new buildings in the city to install bike racks.”