The majority of people I talk to think I am crazy for moving to Detroit. I am thrilled to be part of The Make Shift and looking forward to each day. While involved with this group, I will be working with a youth organization (suggestions are greatly appreciated), also will be involved in the Roosevelt Park Project, and starting up a business that can be a solid building block to the community.
My main focus in this blog will be highlighting the youth of Detroit, cafes, community, and what living in Detroit may look like for a transplant.
Naturally, we’re quite curious what that business might be and whether it’ll be somehow bike-related.
Time Magazine included this quote from Toni Griffin. Ms. Griffin is a lead consultant for the planning effort to re-imagine Detroit, now called the Detroit Works Project.
Detroit is the only metro region in the U.S. without a metro transportation authority. If we begin to think about the role of transportation in the region differently, how we move from place to place becomes a crucial question. Efficiency — and the idea that we shouldn’t have to rely on a car so much — becomes part of the question. I like to think of Detroit not just as the home of automobile innovation. It’s the home of transportation innovation.
We’d like to see more mention of other transportation modes beyond cars and transit. We have shared that information with the planning team.
This is likely a case of light rail being more sexy than biking.
We know bicycling is huge opportunity that provides one answer to How will things move?
We wanted to mentioned one interesting story told by Susan Zielinski, a managing director at UM SMART at this week’s CEO for Cities conference. Zielinski moved from Toronto to Detroit and quickly learned that cars are transportation. Everything else is alternative transportation.
She said that’s like saying men are just alternative women.
We’d talked about the term alternative transportation before but this was a clever retort worth sharing (and re-using.)
Streetsblog released this engaging video from Portland, Oregon that shows their neighborhood greenways – something that might work on many streets in Metro Detroit.
As far as we know, it’s not a greenway design we’ve seen around here yet. There are some ongoing planning efforts in the city of Detroit that may incorporate these designs on some key residential streets.
The video also shows Portland’s Green Streets with stormwater management, wayfinding and some interesting intersection treatments.
The greenway segment from Jefferson to the Detroit River (at Mahera Gentry Park) should be completed this week. Most of this route is bike lanes, but there is also a new pathway through the park.
Clinton River Trail
The new bridge over Telegraph Road in Pontiac will be completed this spring when they are able to pour the bridge’s concrete surface. It will remain closed until then.
Macomb Orchard Trail
The County expects that one closed bridge to be repaired this winter while the remainder of the trail is paved in the spring.
I-275 Metro Trail
MDOT construction and re-construction projects continue to move further along this pathway. From the north to the south:
MDOT expects to build the trail between 14 Mile and Maple next year.
The segment between 13 Mile and 14 Mile is nearly done. While the pathway is open, some landscaping work remains and won’t be completed until spring.
MDOT and Novi will be developing the connection from 13 Mile Road to the I-275 Metro Trail at Meadowbrook.
The trail maintenance from Meadowbrook to Hines Drive is completed and the trail is open.
Construction on the segment from Hines Drive to Michigan Avenue continues. MDOT expects the trail to open next month.
Construction is also underway from Michigan Avenue to I-94. That should be completed by October 2011.
From I-94 to Sibley Road, MDOT is replacing 6 bridges. They do not have funding yet to improve the trail surface.
There are no funded reconstruction projects yet for the I-275 path once it gets to Monroe County. That is actually in a different MDOT region. Monroe is very much interested in seeing this trail continued into Downtown Monroe, the Raisin River battlefield (War of 1812), and Sterling State Park.
Senators Levin and Stabenow escort Transportation Secretary LaHood on the RiverWalk
That short gravel section of the RiverWalk just west of the Ren Cen may soon be history. MDOT has awarded construction funding to help get it built.
The Detroit Wayne County Port Authority is constructing a public dock and terminal in downtown Detroit, between the Renaissance Center and Hart Plaza. The Port Authority also will construct a portion of the Detroit Riverwalk, directly in front of the terminal building. The project will provide various amenities, including ornamental railings, site furnishings and a security system. The project cost is $318,739, including $159,370 in federal TE funds and $159,370 in local match from the Port Authority.
The city of Ann Arbor also received funding that will “construct bike lanes and sidewalks on the East Stadium Boulevard bridges that cross over South State Street and the adjacent Ann Arbor Railroad track.”
MDOT’s press release also provided more details on this federal funding source called Transportation Enhancements (TE).
Under federal law, 10 percent of federal surface transportation funds are set aside for TE projects. Administered by MDOT, the grants enable communities to invest in projects such as streetscapes and nonmotorized trails. TE funds provide a maximum of 80 percent of the money required for each project, with the remainder coming from state and local government and the private sector.
This funding source is absolutely critical to getting bike projects on the ground in Metro Detroit and across the U.S. Did the recent election results put this funding at risk? Bike-friendly Congressman Oberstar is no longer calling the shots, Mica is.
So last week, BikePortland asked Kevin Mills, Vice President of Policy for the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy, “Is the Transportation Enhancements program in jeopardy?” Mills answered:
“The Bureau of National Affairs recently reported that Rep. Mica may take transportation funding ‘back to basics’ and that Transportation Enhancements may be among the programs cut. However, Mr. Mica has vocal constituents and political allies back home for whom trail systems and bicycling are high priorities. He has expressed support for trails and participated in ribbon cuttings on numerous occasions, and he supports robust transportation spending overall. If there is an attack, it is likely to stem from House leaders directing committee chairs to push for aggressive cuts in programs that they do not perceive as core federal functions.”
We hope any attempt to take away Enhancements is met with a very enthusiastic response from cyclists. Losing this funding source would devastate many Detroit bike projects that are planned for the near future.
