m-bike.org

Author: Todd Scott

  • How to make Pontiac more walkable and bike-able

    The Clinton_River_Trail is routed away from the downtown Pontiac businesses — and on sidewalks

    How can the city of Pontiac’s transportation network be improved so that it brings more business and life to the downtown?

    A public meeting is scheduled for this Saturday, March 17th from 10am until noon at the Crofoot Ballroom to discuss that.

    This Oakland Press article has more information:

    Oakland County planners are trying to figure out ways to attract traffic into downtown Pontiac, rather than have traffic diverted around the downtown district.

    The public is invited to attend a meeting with local government officials, planners, residents and business owners to discuss how to fix what many argue has become a barrier for the neighborhoods and surrounding communities.

    The group also has been examining the city’s transportation links, assets and past planning documents.

    The data, along with input from residents, will create an action plan for the Woodward Loop and to improve the city’s streets, sidewalks and bike path system.

    Here’s one obvious suggestion: Stop routing the Clinton River Trail around the downtown. The trail should go through the main downtown business area using the roads.

    It shouldn’t be routed on sidewalks. Besides ignoring the downtown businesses, the trail design ignores best practices.

     

  • Mt. Elliott Makerspace: Tron bikes and more

    Many know about Back Alley Bikes/The Hub of Detroit. It was the City’s first Youth Earn-a-Bike program and it’s been around for over a decade now.

    Youth Earn-A-Bike sessions are where youth ages 8-16 are able to earn a single bicycle of their choosing by building and repairing this bicycle with our qualified staff and volunteers for three (3) Earn-A-Bike sessions. Each session is approximately three (3) hours in length, and they are held on Saturday afternoons during the summer.

    But there are other Earn-a-bike programs in other parts of the city, including the Mt. Elliott Makerspace located at 231 East Grand Boulevard at Lafayette in the Messiah Episcopal Church.

    And the Mt. Elliott Makerspace has some other real interesting programs that focus on transportation, but more specifically:

    Human-powered and alternative-energy-powered vehicles designed to enhance mobility, safety, and enjoyability. E.g. bicycles and bicycle trailers, alternative energy vehicles

    They also bring in electronics as they build lights and music to create “Tron” bikes.

    This video shows more of what they do. It includes a great quote, “I wasn’t getting enough exercise until I earned my bike.”

  • Ride with style: Detroit’s MASH Bike Club

    Detroit-based MASH Magazine is starting a bike club.

    Haven’t heard of this publication? “MASH Magazine fuses modernism, beauty, high fashion, and design for the multicultural audience.”

    Their recently published second issue includes the article, “Changing Gears: Detroit to go from four wheels to two.” It mentions the recent and forthcoming improvements that are making Detroit an even better place to ride.

    The article also mentions their new summer group ride.

    MASH is going to continue to encourage out young and fabulous women to partake in this wonderful past time – join us for a MASH ride.

    The MASH Bike Club rides are from June 2nd though September 22nd on every other Saturday.

    The ride meets at the LaSalle Garden Park at noon. The Park is between Linwood and 14th, just north of Grand Boulevard and a couple blocks west of Henry Ford Hospital.

  • Rep. Stapleton to host transportation meeting

    State Representative Maureen Stapleton is hosting a transportation town hall meeting on Monday, March 11th at 6pm.

    According to the Detroit Free Press, the discussion will be about “roads, transit and related infrastructure issues.”

    Officials will speak with residents about roads and road funding — and as the Legislature considers establishing a regional transit authority in metro Detroit, they’ll discuss what such an agency would mean for southeast Michigan, organizers said.

    Stapleton will host the meeting along with Rep. Fred Durhal Jr.; both are Detroit Democrats. Representatives from the Detroit-based advocacy group Transportation Riders United, the Michigan Department of Transportation, Wayne County and the County Road Association of Michigan will be on hand too.

    The meeting will be held 6 p.m. Monday at Plymouth United Church of Christ, 600 E. Warren at I-75 in Detroit.

    CRAM

    It’s interesting that the County Road Association of Michigan (CRAM) will be present. They have been on the wrong side of some very good state legislation.

    For instance, they were basically the only opposition to the national award winning Recreation Passport program which is now successfully funding our Michigan State Parks. They claimed it was unconstitutional in front of a combined Senate/House committee where legislators told them otherwise.

    They also unsuccessfully tried amending the Complete Streets legislation by removing the long-standing requirement that a minimum of 1% of state road funding go toward non-motorized transportation. It is still among their legislative priorities to undo this 1% state funding requirement.

    They are supportive of a terrible bill (HB 4021) that would divert state park funding to pay for roads and airports even though Michigan voters changed the state constitution to prevent such funding raids.

    Ironically enough, it was bicyclists, including Edward N. Hines that led efforts to create county road commission in 1893 and 1894. Prior to changing the state constitution in 1894, it was unconstitutional for counties or county road commissions to build and maintain roads.

  • Windsor’s effort to boost bicycling

    Riding the Riverfront Trail in Windsor

    From bike lanes to riverfront trails, Windsor has had a big head start on Detroit. While that gap has narrowed over the past few years, they’re arguably still ahead. In fact they just got their Bicycle Friendly Community designation last year which Detroit applied for this year.

    This CBC News article gives a glimpse of what they have and what they need to make Windsor more bikeable.

    According to Windsor’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan, the city plans to eventually add approximately 46 kilometres of bikeways.

    Every year since 2001, the city has annually spent $400,000 on cycling infrastructure and programs. That doesn’t count the lanes that are added during regular construction.

    The goal of the master plan is to have bike lanes and pathways within a five minute radius of every Windsor neighbourhood. It will add up to 350 km of trails and bike routes when it’s done. The current tally is 177 km.

    For a really interesting and dynamic look at their plans, check out this before-and-after map.

    This is all the more reason why we need a cross-border connection for bicyclists.

    Here is a video from the CBC article, Windsor focuses on commuter cycling, bike paths.