The Dodge Brothers mausoleum at Woodlawn Cemetery in Detroit. Photo by Alex Dolpp.

Detroit has some interesting bike history due in part to the strong connection between bicycles and early automobile manufacturing.

One interesting connection is the Dodge Brothers Company, second only to Ford in car sales during the 1920s and now a brand of the Chrysler Corporation.

But before the Dodge Brothers made cars, they made bicycles.

From the book, The City of Detroit, Michigan, 1701-1922 by Clarence Monroe Burton, William Stocking, Gordon K. Miller:

The Dodge motor car stands as a tribute to the work of two brothers – John F. and Horace E. Dodge. As young men they learned the machinist’s trade in their father’s shop at Niles, Michigan, which was their home town.

In 1894 they went to Windsor, Ontario, where they became machinists for the Dominion Typograph Company. Their ability to produce excellent machine work and tools brought them to the attention of Fred S. Evans, a Detroit manufacturer.

About this time the brothers invented the first ball bearing bicycle, and after this accomplishment they joined Mr. Evans in organizing the Evans & Dodge Bicycle Company in 1897 and leased the plant of the Dominion Typograph Company at Windsor, carried on the business for two years, then sold out to a Canadian bicycle concern.

With their plant equipment, the machinery and the cash received in the deal, they came to Detroit and in 1901 opened a machine shop in the Boydell Building on Beaubien Street.

When, in 1903, Henry Ford began the manufacture of his motor car, he asked the Dodge brothers to undertake the manufacture of engines, transmissions and steering gears in quantity production. This they did and so rapidly did their business grow in connection with the development of the Ford car, that when they abandoned the Hastings Street plant in 1910 it was the largest and best equipped machine plant in Detroit.

Continue reading about the Dodge Brothers…

Another attack on the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund has been launched.

As we noted earlier, Michigan’s road builders are looking to divert money from the Trust Fund to fill their gaps in transportation funding. Fortunately it would require changing our state constitution to do so. Given the backlash this incurred, there seems to be some backing away from this suggestion.

Now State Representative Sheltrown (D-Roscommon) is recommending two-thirds of the Trust Fund’s annual grants be diverted to subsidize hunting and fishing instead of buying park land and building trails.

“Despite the importance hunting and fishing has in Michigan and its impact on the state’s economy, Michigan is near the bottom nationally in support of its conservation programs,” Mr. Sheltrown said. “An increase in state general fund revenue is unrealistic given the state’s continued budget deficits. Imposing new fees or increasing existing fees above the rate of inflation to make up shortfalls is counterproductive to the long-term viability of hunting and fishing programs. There has to be a different solution.”

There is a different solution. Raise the hunting and fishing license fees. The Trust Fund was not created to solve structural deficits in DNR operations.

What can you do? If and when Sheltrown introduces a bill we must be prepared to strongly advocate against it. We’ll stay on top of this.

It’s also worth mentioning that Sheltrown is the same legislator that introduced a bill that would have opened up all DNR trails to ATVs if the rider was 60 and over or disabled.

A PERSON NOT LESS THAN 60 YEARS OF AGE OR A PERSON WITH A DISABILITY MAY OPERATE AN ATV ON A NONDESIGNATED TRAIL, ROUTE, OR?AREA FOR PLEASURE OR HUNTING OR TO ACCESS A DESIGNATED TRAIL, ROUTE, OR AREA. AS USED IN THIS SUBSECTION, “PERSON WITH A DISABILITY” MEANS THAT TERM AS DEFINED IN SECTION 103 OF THE PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES CIVIL RIGHTS ACT, 1976 PA 220, MCL 37.1103.

Imagine all the singletrack at our state parks and recreational areas being opened to ATVs! This would have severely decimated many popular trails, but especially those like Island Lake that have sandier soils.

Fortunately that bill died in the last legislative session. It would not be a surprise to see it introduced a third time in his final term.

On Monday, Kimberly Dancy pleaded no contest to the Woodward hit-and-run crash in Royal Oak that killed a cyclist.

The Detroit News is reporting that the plea involves two felony counts and 18 months in prison. It’s not clear there is any restitution for the victim’s two children.

We’ve said it before, but it’s worth repeating. The Royal Oak Police are to be commended for staying on this investigation and (apparently) solving this crime story.

The Detroit News mentions how it was done.

Royal Oak Detective Frank Bonnette began his search for the driver with two clues from the accident: a piece from the car’s grille and a section of the right rear wheel well.

He narrowed the list of possible vehicles to a 2008 Jeep Liberty Sport and called Chrysler officials asking where replacement parts for a grille and rear wheel well had been shipped.

He went to a bumper shop in Clinton Township and hit pay dirt: Both such parts had been requested for repair on the same car, owned by Dancy.

Now as you recall, Dancy faked a traffic accident in hopes of covering up the damage to her car. However, the police impounded her car and saw that it had indeed hit a bicycle.

With one more trick, this case was made solid:

Police also pulled records from Dancy’s cell phone, which placed her on Woodward Avenue heading north in the minutes leading up to the accident about 1:30 a.m.

That doesn’t mean she was on a call, but her cell phone was on and in contact with the local cell towers along Woodward at the time of the accident.

Much has changed since last summer.  Al Fields, our main go-to guy for bike issues within the May0r’s Office left for a job at DTE.   We struggled to find a friendly ear to help us move things forward.

The change in Mayors solved that problem.  Not only is Mayor Cockrel pushing a green agenda, he’s a cyclist.

And near the end of last year he created the Office of Energy and Sustainability.  One of their key initiatives?

Promote implementation of the city of Detroit’s master plan, which will include the non-motorized plan, and many other pedestrian friendly initiatives, bike paths, parks, etc.

And more positive news?  The City of Detroit has completed the grant application for 16 miles of bike lanes and trails for Corktown.

With the upcoming mayoral primary election this month, the Metro Times has interviewed many of the candidates.  It was somewhat of a surprise seeing biking mentioned by a couple candidates.

• Before November, candidate Nicholas Hood III promises to “establish a series of free ‘healthy activities’ for the city such as city wide bike ride / walk with the mayor.”
• To reduce our dependence on foreign oil, candidate Sharon McPhail proposes “bike Lanes on all main roads with a system of high level fines for anyone found driving in them.”

Much has changed.

I gave the following public comment at a recent Troy City Council meeting.  I was speaking in favor of their Troy Trails initiative.  Given the city’s past success in attracting business, I thought the following insight might spur further support for making Troy more bikeable and walkable:

Yesterday I got back from a Smart Growth conference in Albuquerque

There I learned that progressive entrepreneurs and businesses – companies like Google – are starting to ask the question:

If we locate our operations in your city, what will be our carbon footprint?

Can our employees bike, walk or take transit to work?

Or do they need to drive?

Can they bike or walk to the grocery store, the parks, cafes or the local micro brew?

Can their kids walk or bike safely to school?

Or do they need to be driven?

Today, honestly,having a low carbon footprint in Troy is challenging. Troy is not yet competitive with the Ann Arbors, the Portlands, or the Chicagos of the world.

And while making Troy more bikeable and walkable is not a single solution, it is a major first step towards becoming more competitive in bringing future progressive employers to Troy.