Last week the Land Policy Institute (LPI) at Michigan State University released a study summary that for biking and trail advocates only reinforces the obvious: this region needs to make prioritized investments to improving biking, walking, and trail opportunities in order to retain and attract residents.

The report, Chasing the Past or Investing in Our Future: Placemaking for Prosperity in the New Economy, emphasizes the need to attract three specific categories of residents in order to grow in the new knowledge-based economy: young workers, retirees and well-educated immigrants.

Currently, Michigan lags “far behind” most other states in achieving this.

Michigan does poorly in nabbing the highly desired 25- to 34-year-old age group–the so-called Generations X and Y. Michigan sits nearly 15 percent below the national average and in the company of states like North Dakota and Kansas–not with leaders, such as Colorado and Georgia.

According to Dr. Soji Adelaja, the report’s lead author:

The winners will be those regions that build strategies and bolster vibrant urban cores, green recreation opportunities and diverse, entrepreneurial populations, among other assets.

In the Old Economy, people moved somewhere new or lived somewhere for 30 years because that was where their jobs were. Not anymore. People who create the most jobs directly and indirectly are also those people moving to those places in the country that have the best amenities and quality of life. They are seeking places first, not jobs first.

One item we’d add is our region often fails to market what green recreation we have. Metro Detroit has a very respectable collection of singletrack trails and rail-trails. Urban biking in the city of Detroit is top-notch.

Perhaps it’s our Motor City moniker that leads many to believe we lack these green facilities.

Either way, Michigan will not be competitive hanging out with the likes of North Dakota and Kansas.

If you’ve never heard of a bicycle boulevard, don’t be alarmed. They are relatively new and I’m not aware of any that have been built in Metro Detroit.

Recently the Streetsblog Wiki added an entry that describes bicycle boulevards. That’s a great place to start and the Berkeley video is certainly worth watching.

So where does it make sense to add these in Metro Detroit?

We think of some typical street scenarios that make sense, including lightly-traveled residential streets that:

• provide direct connection to downtowns or other major destinations, but are not fire routes.
• parallel a main arterial or trunkline road with relatively high traffic volumes.
• are boulevards or one-ways.

We’ve shown two sample bicycle boulevards for Royal Oak above: Vinsetta Boulevard and Sherman Drive.

Vinsetta is a natural. It already has high recreational use, it’s very scenic, provides a park connection, and has low traffic volumes. Converting it to a bicycle boulevard would likely involve:

• removing all stop signs along Vinsetta
• traffic calming the street so cars are naturally inclined to drive a steady 20 MPH
• reduce vehicle cut-through traffic
• improving the major road crossings for cyclists and pedestrians

The advantage for cyclists is the street would be much more friendly for riding, especially with younger riders.

It really wouldn’t slow the trip time for motorists since time lost due to lower travel speeds would be offset by having fewer signs — and they’d save gas.

The advantage for pedestrians is lower motorist speeds drastically reduces the odds for injuries or fatalities in the case of collisions — even for a reductions from 25 MPH to 20 MPH. This is especially true for child and senior pedestrians.

Of course adding the Sherman Drive takes one directly downtown making this a no-brainer. Engineering a route on the commercial properties south of Catalpa would be a challenge but certainly possible. This would connect with the Sherman Drive “alley” and then Sherman Drive itself.

Mark your calendars. Next month MDOT is hosting an open house to discuss one phase of an I-275 bike path extension to the north from 13 mile to 14 mile.

The meeting is from 6pm until 8pm at the Novi Civic Center.

Here’s the official notice from MDOT with all the details.

Read the rest of this entry »

The Detroit RiverFront Conservancy is hosting a community planning roundtable for the Dequindre Cut on Tuesday, February 24th from 5:30pm until 7:30pm.

According to the invite:

We are planning the opening celebration and programming for the Dequindre Cut! As a member of the East Riverfront community; we want to hear from you! Space is limited. You must RSVP to attend. Refreshments will be served.

The rountable is being held at the UAW-GM Center for Human Resources on the river. Their address is 200 Walker Street Detroit, Michigan 48207.

RSVP’s were due Friday so don’t delay. As they note, space is limited.

One can RSVP using email or by calling 313.566.8206.

MDOT’s Project List

Crain’s Detroit has posted a list of the MDOT projects on their economic stimulus list. As we reported earlier, designing and re-constructing the entire I-275 Bike Path is on their list.

Also on their list is for Michigan Avenue: Milling and resurfacing from Livernois to Rosa Parks; $10 million. Will this project include bike lanes like those planned for Corktown, just to the east? We’ll find out.

DNR Project List

Given the large backlog in DNR capital repairs and improvements, it’s not surprising to see their list is quite long. Trail-related highlights include:

• Statewide: 600 miles rail-trail surface improvements
• Proud Lake: Floating boardwalk and bridge connection for equestrian trails and the canoe launch to the Powers Unit
• Sterling State Park: Surface improvements to connect internal trail system to City of Monroe’s trail system at Elm Street
• Lakelands Trail: Nine miles of asphalt paving/aggregate equestrian trail project, and two staging areas in Pinckney Township;?6 mile asphalt paving/aggregate equestrian trail project, trail head parking in Putnam Township
• Tri-Centennial State Park: Phase III, development of the mulit-use trail corridor. (This is would extend the Riverwalk through the park and provide connection to the Dequindre Cut.)

Clinton River Trail/MTGA

Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance submitted many trail projects including two for the Clinton River Trail:

• Construct a bicycle/pedestrian bridge over Telegraph Rd. to mitigate high-traffic crossing on rail-trail
• Construct a bike/pedestrian safety island on Orchard Lake Rd. and make trail alignment perpendicular to road to provide continuity and a safe crossing between West Bloomfield Trail and Clinton River trail

New Center Council

There are a slew of interesting projects requested for Detroit’s New Center, including the New Center Bike Lane Greenway Connector Project (along Second and Third Avenues, connecting New Center to Wayne State) and a skate/BMX park.

Other Stimulus Project Requests

There are far more requests than just MDOT’s.

In fact the state just created a special website that discusses this stimulus funding, now called Michigan’s Recovery and Reinvestment Plan.

This new web site does have a list of all the requests they’ve received. Yes, there are over 17,000 requests.

That includes 167 projects from Detroit. All of Detroit’s construction-ready greenways are listed, including Conner Creek, Corktown/Mexicantown, Midtown Loop (and Canfield Connector), Southwest Detroit, and Dequindre Cut.

The entire Detroit Non-Motorized Transportation Plan implementation is on the list, which includes striping 400 miles of bike lanes. And similarly, bike lanes along Detroit’s east end of Jefferson are also listed.

A project to rebuild the City Airport hangers along Conner/Outer Drive is on the list. This is also required to make room for the Conner Creek Greenway.

Focus:HOPE has project requests, one of which calls for adding bike lanes to Oakman Boulevard in Highland Park.

The Hamtramck Trail is also on the list for Hamtramck.

Clearly not all these projects can be funded. Michigan is asking municipalities to prioritize their requests. While indications are some of these bike projects will receive funding, nothing yet is set in stone.

What other trail-related projects of interest in the list for Metro Detroit?