When talking about trails, water trails or blueways are often not given their due — especially in Detroit. But there are some groups working hard to change that.

Kelli Kavanaugh has an excellent article in Model D talking about a recent kayak adventure.

A blue heron rises gracefully into the air. A fish jumps, the splash rising just over my shoulder. A muskrat sleekly dives. My kayak cuts noiselessly through the water. All this, on Detroit’s East Side.

Riverside Kayaks has been at the forefront pushing these water trails along the Detroit River and others downstream. In my trails job with MTGA, I’ve been helping where I can.

One issue we’re working to resolve involves existing city ordinances. It’s illegal to launch a kayak from a city park unless you first get permission from the recreation department. This ordinance may be a holdover from the days of Prohibition and rum running across the Detroit River when Belle Isle might be a welcomed landing spot.

Riverside Kayaks and MTGA are working with Councilwoman Sheila Cockrel’s office to change that ordinance to exempt small, light craft such as kayaks. We hope to have that change completed this year prior to Ms. Cockrel’s retirement from Council.

Back to Kavanaugh’s Model D article, she also highlights some of the Conner Creek Greenway additions that are in the works.

DECC’s Libby Pachota… is working on raising funds for the Conner Creek Greenway that will ultimately run from the Detroit River to Eight Mile.

DECC’s greenway efforts have led to the construction of a 2 1/2-mile section near City Airport as well as a short stretch called Milbank. Next up: bike lanes on St. Jean between Mack and Jefferson that will then connect down to Maheras Gentry Park. A third phase will connect McNichols to Eight Mile along Outer Drive and Conner. Funds are committed and these four miles will be completed by 2011, says Pachota.

While the city had hoped to have the St. Jean bike lanes in this year, they’ve been pushed back to next year. (This Saturday’s Tour de Troit metric century route will include this section of St. Jean.)

We’re also working with Macomb County to continue the Conner Creek Greenway north of Eight Mile, perhaps taking advantage of some upcoming improvements to Van Dyke.

Tags: Conner Creek Greenway, Detroit, water trails

This entry was posted on Monday, September 14th, 2009 at 10:57 pm and is filed under Detroit, Trails. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.