m-bike.org

Author: Todd Scott

  • New Detroit bike lanes for 2012

    There are bike lanes planned for the city of Detroit that are expected to be completed this year. Here’s a run down of those projects.

    Midtown bike lanes

    The below projects all tie together to create on consistent north-south bike route from Cass Tech to New Center. Though not a bike lane, phase II construction of the Midtown Loop will begin this year, extending the pathway south on John R and on Canfield from John R to Cass. The segment along Cass is now phase III.

    Second Avenue from Grand Boulevard to Palmer – The street is being returned to two-way travel with bike lanes added for most of it. There is insufficient road width north of the railroad underpass so sharrows will be used.

    Anthony Wayne Drive from Palmer to Warren – Bike lanes will be added.

    Third Avenue from Warren to Ledyard – This segment will become all two-way with bike lanes.

    Cass Park – All of the streets surrounding the park will receive bike lanes.

    Conner Creek Greenway

    Another phase of this eastside greenway is being constructed this year. This time the portion between 6 Mile and 8 Mile is the focus. E. Outer Drive and Conner Avenue below the Milbank Greenway (which is just north of E. Outer Drive) will get bike lanes.

    Trumbull Enhancements

    Bike lanes will be added to Trumbull from Warren Avenue north to about Holden. We haven’t seen the drawings, but that’s what we’ve heard. The City has said they would look into continuing the Trumbull bike lanes from Warren south to MLK though there is no timeframe for that.

    Safety Improvement Projects

    These are the safety projects we’d mentioned earlier. There is one additional public meeting to discuss safety improvements to West Chicago from Spinozza (Rouge Park) just about to Livernois. That meeting is Monday, February 20th from 5pm to 7pm at the Don Bosco Hall, 19321 W. Chicago. We’re told the plans for W. Chicago include bike lanes but we don’t know to what extent yet. We do know they make a great east-west connection to Rouge Park which has great roads, pathways, and trails for biking. Spinozza also connects with W. Outer Drive, another great Detroit biking road.

    Dix Road from Waterman/W. Vernor to Woodmere – This is basically an extension of the existing bike lanes on W. Vernor which provides a connection with the pathway in Patton Park.

    Central from W. Vernor to McGraw – Only portions of the Central will get bike lanes. At times the road is too narrow so sharrows will be used instead. Central become an even more critical biking route after the Detroit International Freight Transfer Project (DIFT) closes nearby Lonyo Road. Central is also part of the proposed Inner Circle Greenway route that encircles the city.

    E. Seven Mile from I-75 to Gratiot is also a safety improvement project but there was insufficient room to add bike lanes. However, like the roads mentioned above, the designs are such that they encourage motorists to drive more prudently.

  • Grown Men on Bikes Theme Song

    If the Detroit-based club Grown Men on Bikes didn’t already have the coolest name, they now have this sweet theme song.

    Warning: They drop an MF in there, so it may not be safe for your workplace.

  • Public meetings for two Detroit safety improvement projects

    In 2010, the city of Detroit applied for road safety funding and were successful. Building on this success, Detroit applied for seven safety grants last year and received six. The city’s plan is to add Complete Streets features to these roads to improve safety.

    There are two public information meetings this week to review the newly improved road designs.

    We’ve seen the 7 Mile designs and they are mostly improved crosswalks, no bike lanes. Our suggestion will be to stripe the parking lane to make it a de facto bike lane when no parked cars are present.

    From Detroit Traffic Engineering:

    Monday, February 13, 2012, 6pm to 8pm

    The meeting is at LA SED – Green Site, 7150 West Vernor, Detroit.

    The Safety Improvement Project are:

    • Vernor Ave (Lansing to 20th Street) Corridor
    • Dix Ave (Woodmere to Waterman) Corridor
    • Central (W Vernor Hwy to McGraw Street)

    FREE Raffle for restaurant gift certificates donated by El Nacimiento, courtesy of Rodrigo Padilla, and Nuestra Familia, courtesy of Jorge Canchola.

    Come to this open house to learn more about plans for traffic and safety improvements along the three corridors, including new crosswalks, upgraded traffic?signals, and changes to striping and lane use on Vernor, Dix and Central. This project is intended to promote pedestrian and vehicular safety and the vitality of the area.

    For more information, contact Ghassan Khalaf at 313-224-1268

    Thursday, February 16, 2012, 6pm to 8pm

    The meeting is at St. John Conner Creek Village, 4777 E. Outer Drive, Detroit.

    The Safety Improvement Project are:

    • E. Seven Mile (I-75 W. Service Dr to Vandyke) Corridor
    • E. Seven Mile (Vandyke to Gratiot) Corridor

    Come to this open house to learn more about plans for traffic and safety improvements along this corridor, including new crosswalks, upgraded traffic signals, and changes to striping and lane use on E. Seven Mile Corridor. This project is intended to promote pedestrian and vehicular safety and the vitality of the area.

    For more information, please contact: Stella Kulangara at 313-224-1733

  • Public hearing on Royal Oak non-motorized plan

    Forget your Valentine. It’s time to speak up for improved biking in Royal Oak this Tuesday.

    From the Royal Oak Planning Department:

    The Planning Commission will be conducting a formal public hearing on the revised Non-Motorized Transportation Plan as an amendment to the city’s Master Plan on Tuesday, February 14, 2012. The public hearing will be held at 7:30 p.m. in the City Commission Chambers on the 3rd floor of City Hall, 211 Williams Street, Royal Oak, Michigan 48068.

    Any individual or group interested in the Non-Motorized Transportation Plan is invited to present their view at the public hearing. For those unable to attend, written comments regarding the plan can be mailed to the City of Royal Oak Planning Department, P.O. Box 64, Royal Oak, MI 48068-0064. Comments may also be faxed to (248) 246-3005 or e-mailed to dough@ci.royal-oak.mi.us.

    Link: Royal Oak Non-motorized Transportation Plan

    We think this is a very good plan and cyclists should support it.

    We do plan on making some suggestions on Tuesday.

    • Adding bike lanes on Main Street from Catalpa south to I-696, including a road diet through the central business district.
    • Reducing the number of signed bike routes, especially those that are short, disconnected, and redundant.

    If you cannot attend on Tuesday, please consider sending a email expressing your support to Doug Hedges in the Planning Department.

    There has been some concerns about road diets on some of the busier roads. Keep in mind that this plan doesn’t give Engineering carte blanche to make those changes without further study. Traffic studies and perhaps even traffic modeling may be used prior to making changes in order to avoid creating problems.

    The Daily Tribune has an article on this planning effort.

    If you would love to see friendlier roads for motor-less modes of transportation, you best make your way to City Hall on Tuesday.

    Don’t worry. Your Valentine will understand.

  • Birmingham to consider road diet and bike lanes

    As we’ve mentioned before, Birmingham is really starting to get more involved in improving biking and walking opportunities.

    One of there latest efforts is to improve Maple Road between Eton and Woodward. This is a main gateway to their downtown and the road isn’t too pretty. It’s mostly a four lane road that allows on-street parking except between 7am and 9am and 4pm and 6pm.

    The road carries significant vehicle traffic mostly during rush hour and road that very few would feel comfortable biking on.

    We’ve heard that many of the houses along this stretch are rentals, which is probably an reflection on the unwelcoming street.

    A proposed alternative is a road diet, taking it to three lanes with bike lanes. The current lane design would be maintained at the intersections to facilitate more traffic flow. Traffic models determined that 30% of the vehicle traffic would use other roads if this were to happen and travel delays would not be that much worse. While motorists might wait more at the Adams crossing, the Woodward crossing would operate with less delay.

    If you are interested in supporting this, please attend this upcoming public meeting on February 13th. The details are below the fold.

    Adding bike lanes to this section of Maple would connect the popular Eton Road cycling route to downtown Birmingham. It would also connect the transit center and Troy’s shopping district to downtown Birmingham as well.

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