Some unique pieces of street art have been disappearing from Sudbury's downtown core.

The bike racks — which are shaped like bicycles — were installed this summer, as part of an effort to spruce up downtown Sudbury. But the city has now started removing some of those bike racks.

Downtown Village Development Corporation spokesperson Susan Thompson said the city is worried about snow plowing around the new racks.

"There is a concern that if the snowplow hits them, then they are damaged — who is responsible for the damage," she asked.

"We have been having negotiations over the past few months to see what we can do to have them remain in year round. There's a lot of interest from cyclists in having them there. So we are working on it. But for this year, they are removed."

Now that some bike racks have been removed, all that is left are small concrete pads to which the racks were anchored. (Jan Lakes)

Thompson said all of the bike racks and benches in the downtown will be put back in the spring. The city said it will take into consideration snow removal concerns before it places any additional bike racks in the future. Racks that are not in areas where snow is cleared will be able to stay year-round.

This is the second time the racks have been removed from the downtown since their installation in July. They were removed — and reinstalled a few days later — because the racks had been installed at an improper angle, which reduced the number of bikes that could be locked to them.