The photo on the right was taken yesterday while exploring a great bakery in Windsor’s historic Sandwich area.

The lead Windsor Star article is on-line. The synopsis?

Riverside Drive residents angry over losing small city-owned chunks of land fronting their properties to make way for bike lanes have launched a court challenge against the city’s plan.

This Windsor city plan for bike lanes and other traffic calming has already been approved. This same group of residents contested the environmental assessment but it’s been upheld by the Province, so now they’re suing.

Councillor Alan Halberstadt didn’t pull punches when he told the Windsor Star:

“It’s another delaying tactic,” Halberstadt said. “It’s a case of a few rich people holding up a better way of life for the city. It’s unfortunate our court system allows that to happen.

“The major concern is we are taking a part of property they have been using for years. That’s their hidden agenda.”

Besides Halberstadt, Windsor has some very good cycling advocates that are on top of this issue, including Bike Windsor and Embrace the Bike. We’ve got great confidence in them persevering on this matter and making Riverside a great place to bike from end to end.

Transportation Enhancements

There was concern as to whether some of the stimulus transportation money would go towards Transportation Enhancements. Enhancements grants often fund bike or trail projects in Michigan.

In the original House version of the stimulus bill, 4.5% of the highway funds went to enhancements. The Senate bill had 0%. The fear was it would remain at zero since the compromise bill was based on the Senate version.

The good news is the final bill specifies 3% for enhancements, or $825 million in total. It’s uncertain how much Michigan will receive.

Other Funding

But there’s “other possible funding sources for bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure” than just transportation funds according to the Bikes Belong Coalition:

• States will be receiving $53.6 billion in state fiscal stabilization funding. States must use 18.2% of their funding – or $9.7 billion – for public safety and government services. An eligible activity under this section is to provide funding to K-12 schools and institutions of higher education to make repairs, modernize, and renovate to meet green building standards. LEED’s green standards for schools include bicycle and pedestrian facilities and access to the school.
• $3.1 billion is provided for the Energy Efficiency and Block Grant Program, which provides formula funding to cities, counties, and states to undertake a range of energy efficiency activities. One eligible use of funding is for bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure.
• And a total of $1 billion is included for a Prevention and Wellness fund at the US Department of Health and Human Services. However, specific funding for the Healthy Communities program, which provides funding to local communities to pursue community wellness activities address critical problems like obesity, was not included.

Project List

It’s also uncertain what projects this money will fund. According to the Lansing State Journal, Governor Granholm will list the potential projects in the “very near future” after President Obama signs the bill.

I-275 Bikepath Funding

Also, we had questions about both MDOT and the City of Novi having the I-275 bikepath on their economic stimulus wish list. We’re told Novi added it to show the city’s support for the project and to bring in the funding in case MDOT didn’t.

The differing House and Senate versions of the stimulus bill were resolved yesterday. It’s expected that the new bill will be voted on today and signed by the President on Monday.

This final bill allocates $29 billion in transportation funding. That’s about how much the federal government allocates during a normal year. How much of that goes to Michigan and how much could be spent on non-motorized facilities is apparently unknown as of now.

We do know that the MDOT Metro Region put reconstruction of the entire I-275 bikepath on their stimulus project list. How huge would that be?

The Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance and other advocates have been working with the City of Detroit to get non-motorized projects in the city’s stimulus list. Dan Cherrin, Mayor Cockrel’s spokesman told the the Michigan Messenger that the city wants to see “bike paths” built with stimulus money. Bike paths could include many of Detroit’s greenway projects as well as the non-motorized plan’s 400-mile bike lane network.

There are also other local bike and trail related projects in the stimulus wish list compiled by the Michigan Municipal League:

• Birmingham – Completion of a renovation of partially existing trail network, $2 million
• Canton – Construction of five pedestrian bridges over the Rouge River providing interconnection of community pathway, $700,000
• Madison Heights – Red Oaks Bikepath, $600,000
• Novi – Improvement of I-275 non-motorized pathway from I696 to Wayne Co, $ 467,000
• Novi – New bike path along M-5 from south of 12 Mile Rd to Pontiac Trail, $ 1,250,000
• Rochester – Paint Creek Trail, $ 300,000
• Royal Oak – Non-Motorized Tranportation Plan, $40,000

What’s not clear is how Novi’s two requests fit with MDOT’s for the I-275 bikepath.

We should know more about what gets funded as this process continues to lumber along.

Al Fields (DTE) and Greg Johnson (MDOT)

Many years ago we often heard cyclists level complaints against MDOT for the lack of safe road accomodations in Metro Detroit. At the time, they were right, that is until Greg Johnson became head of the MDOT Metro Region.

Greg went on to create an MDOT Metro Region Non-Motorized Committee. It was at an early meeting that he mentioned the need for our road networks to let cyclists get where they need to go anywhere within the Metro Region (Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, and St. Clair counties.)

Perhaps the biggest change Greg made was having MDOT take back responsibility for the I-275 bike path. After languishing without maintenance for 30 years, the bike path is getting repaired section by section. Money was spent to develop a plan on how to repair it, re-open the connection to Monroe County, and properly maintain it. Money is allocated to extend it north to Pontiac Trail.

Another huge change that is a little less evident is the MDOT Metro region’s trail bridge policy. When trails needed to build bridges over MDOT roads, there was always the question of who would maintain the bridge. Local governments often lacked the resources to even handle the inspections. Greg set the region policy where MDOT took responsibility for these bridges. This certainly helped trail bridge projects like the new Macomb Orchard Trail’s over M-53 and planned bridges like the Clinton River Trail’s over Telegraph.

And we can’t forget MDOT’s committment to bike lanes on future road projects involving Michigan Avenue and Fort Street in Detroit. Greg played a big role in making those happen.

And one final positive change. The Detroit Riverfront Conservancy received a $29 million earmark from Senator Carl Levin. Since earmarks require recipients to jump to additional (and often unfamiliar) hoops, Greg committed MDOT to designing and managing the construction of new Riverwalk segments.

So even though Greg is leaving the top position at MDOT’s Metro Region, he’s not leaving MDOT. He’s moving up. Greg has accepted the position of MDOT Chief Operations Officer. And while he expects to maintain his interest in many of the projects listed above, he also hopes to spread the Metro Region’s non-motorized transportation message at the higher levels in Lansing.

Best of luck to you Greg!

The date has been set for a grand opening celebration: Thursday, May 14th at 10AM.

Certainly the trail has been useable since last fall.

Keep in mind that this is only Phase I of the trail. Phase II continued the Dequindre Cut north of Gratiot to Mack Avenue.

And either the trail got a new sign along Gratiot or I haven’t been paying attention. Either way, it looks good.

Also, there are rumblings of a “Dequindre Cut East.” There is an abandoned rail corridor just east of Beaufait from Mack to the Riverfront. The Gleaner’s Community Food Bank is interested in this project as it would connect their building to the Riverwalk. This is still very much in the conceptual phase, so there are not many details to share at this time.