m-bike.org

Author: Todd Scott

  • Detroit Light Rail hearings on February 12th

    A proposed streetcar/bicycle design from Seattle

    Below is the DDOT announcement about public hearings on the planned Woodward light rail project.

    Why is light rail important to Detroit cyclists?

    First, a well-designed light rail system will lets you easily take your bike on board and provides bike parking at the transit stops. The system can actually encourage more people to ride. Biking increases the light rail’s effective reach into the neighborhoods. The light rail is not going to take you to places like Hamtramck, Eastern Market, Cortktown, Mexicantown, or Ferndale — but those could be easily biked to.

    Second, this project is an opportunity to get light rail on Wooward and make it a Complete Street. Can we improve biking in a way that works well with the new light rail?

    Mia Birk from Alta Planning has been involved in streetcar/bicycle facility design for a some time and recently wrote an article called “Bikes & Streetcars – Let’s be Best Friends!.”

    Both streetcar and bicycle transportation are highly effective, sustainable solutions with multiple benefits. Bicycling leverages enormous health and environmental benefits, while streetcar leverages development. Both use space efficiently and forward economic progress. Together, they signify the dawn of a powerful new era of transportation efficiency.

    And one thing’s for sure: designing streetcar lines without serious consideration of bicyclists will cost more in the long run, as it’s always harder to fix things than doing them well in the first place.

    That bolded text is perhaps the key point.  Let’s make sure things are done well from the beginning and save money.

    And let’s be best friends!

    More details on the public meetings

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  • City of Clawson supports Complete Streets policies

    Clawson's Main Street design with bike lanes

    Back in early December, Clawson’s city council passed a resolution supporting a Complete Streets policy.

    According to the minutes, City Manager Mark Pollock provided this background prior to the vote.

    Complete Streets is a design or planning principle to enable safe access for all users, including pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists and transit riders of all ages and abilities. ?The City of Clawson already incorporates many of the goals of the Complete Streets philosophy into the projects it undertakes. This is evidenced by the recent renovations of the downtown main intersection and streetscape projects. ?The resolution supporting a Complete Streets Policy pledges the City’s continued commitment to the complete streets philosophy and may assist the City in applications for funding available under the revised statutes. My recommendation is the resolution supporting a Complete Streets? Policy for the City of Clawson be approved and forwarded to the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and State Transportation Commission (STC).

    City council passed the Complete Streets resolution unanimously. That resolution is below the fold.

    Clawson now joins Berkley, Ferndale and Novi as Oakland County municipalities that have adopted Complete Streets ordinances or policies — or have good intentions.

    Now perhaps it’s time to revisit those bike lanes planned for Main Street that never got constructed.

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  • Job openings: Michigan Safe Routes to School

    The Michigan Safe Routes to School web site has posted information on two new job positions at the Michigan Fitness Foundation (MFF): a new Safe Routes to School Program Director and a part-time Michigan Policy Network Organizer.

    The latter position is the result of the Safe Routes to School National Partnership selecting Michigan to participate in the 2011 phase of the State Policy Network Project. According to the web site:

    The Michigan Policy Network will work to increase physical activity among all students, leverage additional state resources for Safe Routes to School initiatives, and advocate to remove barriers to walking and bicycling to schools through policy initiatives. Nineteen states and the District of Columbia currently participate in this project, which is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Kaiser Permanente and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

  • Detroit Works Project: a blueprint for more biking?

    The Detroit Works Project — the city’s plan for re-imagining itself — has scheduled the next series of public meetings.

    But before talking about those, let’s admire this graphic taken from the front page of the Detroit Works web site. No, we didn’t create that graphic nor did we bribe anyone.

    And, the Detroit Works team has summarized the comments given during the first round of public meetings.

    If you thought Detroiters were indifferent about their future, you’d be wrong. The first five meetings had 4,500 people and produced 1,916 verbal comments and 1,451 comment cards.

    Our favorite statistic?

    There were many comments on transportation with 42% of those expressing a desire for light rail and 31% making suggestions around improvements for bicycles.

    Apparently Detroiters aren’t indifferent about their bicycling infrastructure either!

    The next series of public meetings are listed on the Detroit Works web site. They run from January 27th through February 16th. Unlike the first meetings, these are geographically based. They are asking that you attend the meeting that is closest and most convenient to you. Note that space is limited.

    The Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance has written summaries on greenways and Complete Streets for the Works Project. The plan is to distribute these summaries (and others) to those attending these upcoming meetings. Doing that should help help build community awareness.


  • “Don’t Embarrass the Agency or Yourself”

    The National Center for Bicycling and Walking recently posted a great list of resources compiled by Christopher Douwes from the Federal Highway Administration. If you’re just looking to make your community more bike friendly or more walkable, this is a good place to gain some background.

    Included on the lists are some of Douwes’ presentations. His first presentation, Policy, Planning, Programs, and Provisions for Pedal-Power, Pedestrians, and Paths, includes one of our favorite slides:

    Don’t Embarrass the Agency or Yourself.

    Then it was the DOT traffic engineer’s turn….and I quote: “Since the bicyclists are always in the way of traffic, we need to figure out how to get them off the road.” (or something very close to that :-]). I couldn’t ignore the comment. I tried. Really I did. But I had to share: “Bicyclists and pedestrians are also traffic.” The poor man didn’t say one more word the rest of the meeting.

    – A planner from the Heartland

    “Get them off the road?” That sounds familiar, doesn’t it?