m-bike.org

Author: Todd Scott

  • Woodward Complete Streets meeting on April 17th

    Woodward Complete Streets flyerThe Woodward Complete Streets planning project has been underway for months, but now it’s time to engage with residents and stakeholders.

    To accomplish this, a series of five 3-day open houses are being announced along Woodward. The first is April 17th through the 19th with a focus on Woodward from McNichols (6 Mile Road) north through Ferndale.

    The meeting location is the St. James Catholic Church at 241 Pearson Street at Woodward in Ferndale.

    A special focus group meeting for cyclists is scheduled for April 17th at noon. Yes, lunch will be provided. This is your best bet to giving feedback on how to make Woodward more bicycle friendly.

    If you can’t make this meeting, there are drop in hours:

    • April 17th from 9am until 5pm
    • April 18th from 12pm until 8pm
    • April 19th from 9am until 3pm

    There’s also a walking audit with Dan Burden. We’ve been on many of his tours that are full of common sense traffic solutions. He strongly recommend you consider attending one of these.

    More information is available on this Woodward Complete Streets flyer.

  • Detroit pursuing improved bike upgrades at Dorais Park

    Riding the Dorais velodrome in Detroit

    One of those is the Farwell/Dorais Park. The city will be applying for a Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund grant to match their $125,000 contribution.

    As you may know, Dorais is home to an old concrete velodrome built by the Wolverine Cycling Club in 1969. The city was looking into options for restoring it by having used bikes for sale. Dale Hughes came in to offer his advice. Hughes is an international expert on velodrome construction and his father-in-law, Mike Walden built the Dorais track.

    His advice was it’s beyond repair. It would be easier to build a new one.

    Why?

    Water began seeping through some seams early on, which caused the sand base to erode. That erosion led to small cracks. When cars and motorcycles starting riding on the track, the cracks became far more substantial. The cracks are larger enough that one could not simply lay down a thin layer of blacktop.

    Besides, the track has an irregular design. It was surveyed prior to grading but vandals removed half of the survey markers. With no time to redo the surveys, the north oval was made using an outstretched garden hose.

    Despite the defect, this track still produced hundreds of national champions and even world champions.

    But unfortunately the replacement cost far exceeds what the city can provide, not to mention the cost of programming the track. So, the city instead plans on doing some additional patchwork to fill some of the large, tire-sucking seams.

    New Trails

    The majority of funding would go towards a crushed stone trail around the park, a singletrack climb up Derby Hill, a multi-use, banked downhill, and more.

    If you want to provide comments , you can this Wednesday at a public hearing or via writing the Recreation Department. The details are below: (more…)

  • Cycling and Underground Railroad tours this weekend

      1. There are two Wheelhouse bicycle tours this weekend in UK which are both fundraisers for MTGA.

      The first is Saturday, July 9th at 1pm and its theme is the early cycling history.

       

      The second is on Sunday, July 10th at 1pm and will tour Underground Railroad historic sites.

      It was an important station on the Underground Railroad, and the final American stop prior to freedom across the River in Canada for many escaped slaves. We will visit the Underground Railroad memorial sculpture on the River Walk, historic Second Baptist Church, and the Underground Railroad Living Museum at the First Congregational Church.

       

  • A cycling perspective on Detroit’s EFM

    Detroit EFMOn Friday, Governor Rick Snyder announced his plans to install an Emergency Finance Manager or EFM in the city of Detroit.

    There are many varied opinions on this, but we’ll just look at it from a cycling and trails perspective just as we did with the earlier consent agreement.

    The Mayor’s office and City Council have been very supportive of making the city more bike friendly and more walkable. There’s not another city in Metro Detroit that’s doing more. So from a high-level perspective, an EFM reduces their influence and could potentially derail some of this positive momentum.

    Will that happen? Probably not.

    The EFM will likely focus on general funding issues. Most of the bike and trail work is funded through grants, philanthropy, and the city’s road fund, which comes from the state and federal government. General funds are not used to build bike lanes or trails. The state and federal road funds cannot be spent on anything but transportation according to Michigan’s Constitution.

    However, general funds are used to maintain city parks, through which some trails pass. Those park services were severely cut after the failed Belle Isle lease proposal. The park closure most directly affecting trails is Maheras-Gentry. The Conner Creek Greenway would remain open, but the park entrance maybe closed to motor vehicles.

    According to the Detroit Free Press, public transit, lighting, and public safety are more likely to be affected. Certainly these all affect bicycling and walking as well. Deeper cuts to public transit could force more people to seek alternative travel options, like biking. And, Detroit surveys say that adequate lighting and public safety are key requirements for residents to walk and bike more, especially at night.

    One area of concern is will key city employees seek other employment during this tumultuous time. Traffic Engineering recently lost two designers to other opportunities. At least one will be able to be rehired. But again, Traffic Engineering doesn’t rely on the general fund. Filling other vacant staff positions under an EFM might not be challenging.

    There is one EFM rumor that we know is false. Detroit’s EFM will probably not be the young cyclist with training wheels shown on the Governor’s EFM brochure.

    What are your thoughts?

  • The $1 billion Bloody Run Creek Greenway project

    BloodyRunIt’s been talked about for decades, but these conceptual plans makes the Bloody Run Greenway seem slightly more possible.

    And yes, it does have a $1 billion total price tag. However, breaking the project into smaller phases makes it a bit more palatable.

    Besides, how amazing would it be to have a creek running next to the Dequindre Cut?

    Or a waterfall next to the shipping container hotel proposed for the Cut?

    Are the recent demolitions east of Eastern Market related? We’re not sure, but both the demolitions and the Bloody Run project have Kresge Foundation funding.

    Dequindre Cut Extension

    While we don’t have any recent updates on the Dequindre Cut extension, the project must be out to bid by July of this year. We have seen the construction drawings and it looks phenomenal.

    Keep in mind that this project will:

    • Extend the Cut under Gratiot and on to Mack Avenue
    • Add bike lanes from end of the Cut to Hamtramck
    • Add an Eastern Market connector trail just north of Wilkins
    • Add bike lanes and sidewalks from Eastern Market to Midtown
    • Add bike parking in Eastern Market

    If Hamtramck receives grant funding this spring, they could build their bike network by next summer.

    Current the Dequindre Cut is mostly undeveloped except for a rail car spur. That has been captured in this movie by Michelle Andonian entitled “The Cut.” That’s a living project that will evolve as the trail does.