New bike racks in Banff will be doing double duty, protecting bikes and beautifying the town. These bicycle racks were created by artist Paul Reimer and were funded by Canada House Gallery. Bike racks are in high demand in Banff. The town has the highest percentage of residents who cycle in Alberta. “It just marries two things together which we love in Banff, which is cycling and public art,” said Banff Mayor Corrie DiManno, “so it’s a really great day today.” The new racks have been installed on Caribou Street, which has just undergone a $5.4 million renewal. It includes new places to sit and a new parkette, as well as important infrastructure work, DiManno explained. “It’s been under construction for just about a year and really, that whole project had to do with replacing underground infrastructure that was upwards of 100 years old,” she said. “We saw what our friends in Calgary had to live through in terms of infrastructure failure and we really wanted to be proactive and ensure we wouldn’t face that same type of catastrophe here in our small municipality,” DiManno added, “so we replaced the underground infrastructure—water mains, (the) storm drainage system, as well as utilities – and we also took the opportunity to beautify our street which now matches the aesthetics on Bear Street, a pedestrian-first experience. “We can’t put bike racks down fast enough in this town,” she said. “They get used up immediately.” The two-year project cost the town about $6.8 million.
