m-bike.org

Author: Todd Scott

  • Hamtramck Trail in the News

    The Hamtramck Trail project is moving forward once again.

    This is due in part to Hamtramck resident Dick Kaleski and the new Hamtramck Community and Economic Development Director Jason Friedmann.  On Monday, both Dick and Jason were on Detroit Today with Craig Fahle.  If you missed it, there is an MP3 of the show.

    Jason was also highlighted last week in a Model D article.

    Here’s a brief description of the Hamtramck Trail from the Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance web site:

    The Hamtramck Greenway is a planned 1.5-mile that will eventually connect Downtown Hamtramck with the Dequindre Cut and the Detroit Riverfront.  The trail also passes through historic Veterans’ Memorial Park and a diverse community of Polish, Bengali, and Arabic residents.  The Trail is a project of Preserve Our Parks, a 10-year old non-profit community organization in Hamtramck, Michigan.

    And actually that is just Phase I of the trail.  There are tentative plans to expand it further and hopefully integrate it with Hamtramck’s Safe Routes to Schools project.

    Of course not all the funding is in place for Phase I, but that is being worked on.

  • Being a More Visible Bicyclist

    Bicyclists not being seen by drivers is a major cause of crashes.  That’s especially true this time of year with the shorter days and Daylight Saving Time.

    MDOT recently issued a related press release:

    “Drivers should always pay close attention and look out for other users of our roadways,” said MDOT Director Kirk T. Steudle. “In addition, pedestrians and bicyclists should wear bright and/or reflective clothing to significantly improve the likelihood of being noticed by motorists.”

    Increasing ones visibility doesn’t have to be all that expensive.  Wearing brighter clothes with reflective strips and adding bike lights are a good start.  Those rear red LED blinky lights are almost a necessity.

    Momentum Magazine has created a cheesy but fun video about getting more visible.  Note that the video production lighting was powered solely by bike lights.

    Video thumbnail. Click to play.

    Click to play

    Presented by: VACC, B:C:Clettes and Momentum Magazine
    Videography by Gwendal Castellan and Dave Niddrie

    Visibility accessories generously donated by:

    • Halolux – Halolight Bicycle Helmets and Haloracer Bike Illumination Light
    • Monkeylectric – Monkeylectric Monkey Light
    • Rock the Bike– Down Low Glow Lights
    • Sweetskinz – Reflective Coloured Tires
    • Knog – Frog, Gecko and Gator Lights
    • Hutchinson – Reflex Reflective Tires
    • Lazer -Urbanize Helmets

  • Bike Meetings: Detroit, Royal Oak, Troy & Bloomfield Hills

    What a busy week for bike advocacy!  There are four meetings scheduled this week.  Each meeting is an opportunity to speak up and ask for better bicycling facilities.

    Tuesday: Detroit Riverwalk and Dequindre Cut

    This is a public forum to discuss future programming of the East Riverfront and Dequindre Cut.  Details were posted last week.

    Wednesday: Troy Trails Committee

    The next Troy Trails Committee meeting is being held at 7:30pm in the City Council Chambers at City Hall.  We’ll be reviewing an upcoming presentation to City Council and get an update on the Troy’s Master Plan Request for Proposal (RFP).

    Thursday: Bloomfield Hills Master Plan

    A master planning public workshop is scheduled for Thursday, November 20th from 4 PM until 8 PM.  The workshop is being held at city hall, 45 East Long Lake Road.

    The purpose of this public workshop is to inform local citizens of the process to update the Master Plan and gain input into areas of concern and opportunities for the future of the City to be addressed in the Master Plan.  Topics of discussion will include land use, housing density, building design, transportation systems, natural features and community facilities and services.

    Improving roads for bicycling is certainly an issue within Bloomfield Hills.

    Thursday: Royal Oak Downtown Development Authority

    ** Note that this is a date change **

    We will be going before the DDA to ask that they support better biking and walking in Royal Oak, but especially in Downtown Royal Oak.  We expect to give a presentation similar to what we gave the Royal Oak City Commission.  This meeting is at 4 PM at City Hall.

  • Smart Transportation and Traffic Engineering

    Last week, the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan brought in Ian Lockwood, a traffic engineer from Glatting Jackson.  Ian was here to lead a multi-disciplinary team of experts to look at how we can improve the built environment on Detroit’s lower eastside.

    One of the biggest benefits of these sessions is Ian provides the terminology and solutions to familiar urban design issues, e.g. super blocks, a city’s bone structure, etc.  He also emphasizes that cities exist to promote exchange.  That increasing transportation speeds limits exchange.  And when making decisions, we need to err on the side of place.

    So, if you missed these sessions, you’re in luck because Ian has a video from an earlier presentation on-line (see below.)

    He also has a PDF document that covers many of the same topics covered last week.  It’s called Transportation Prescription for Healthy Cities.


  • Oakland County creates Trails Master Plan

    The Detroit News ran an article a couple weeks ago about Oakland County Parks completing a Trails Master Plan:

    It’s always been a vision in Oakland County: a continuous, linked outdoor trail system that connects communities, downtowns and schools.

    But gaps in the system — much of it built on top of old railroad lines — continue.

    Bridging those gaps is a major focus of Oakland County’s first Trails Master Plan developed and released by county parks officials last month.

    The Trails Master Plan is a beautiful and very professional document.  Electronic copies are available from the Oakland County web site.

    And speaking of the Oakland County web site, it has been updated.  If you haven’t checked out their trails web page lately, you should.

    It doesn’t seem all that long ago that a group of us were called together by Oakland County Parks in the late 90s.  While they had traditionally limited their involvement to fenced parks, they did note the momentum of trail development across the county.  Our group pushed them in that direction.  They’ve come a long way since then, which is great news for anyone who rides a horse, a bike, or simply walks.

    Link: Oakland works to link trails, Detroit News