The city of Austin will put in a few more bike racks this spring to make the downtown area more bike-friendly.

Public Works Director Steven Lang said the city purchased 11 looped racks to help replace three downtown information kiosks, which will be taken out this year. The racks will be painted red so bicyclists can see them.

The racks were purchased for about $1,100, Lang said. Any extra racks will be placed throughout the city.

City workers are also set to work on several bike trails this summer. The city will put in a sidewalk/trail on the south side of a replacement bridge on East Side Like, which will extend to 12th Avenue.

A 10-foot wide asphalt trail will go from the Bandshell Community Park by the Cedar River, past the Wastewater Treatment Plant and connect to Fourth Street Southwest.

Finally, the city plans to build a trail alongside 10th Drive Southeast during a street reconstruction project in the area this sumer.

All told, this year’s trails will cover about 1.6 miles and cost the city about $400,000 in federal grants, the city’s Capital Improvement Revolving Fund and state aid.

Thanks to more than $2.1 million in state bonding funds, Mower County is set to extend the Shooting Star Trail from Rose Creek to Austin later this year.