The City of Farmington Hills is updating their master plan.  The current draft promises Farmington Hills will continue to be one of the least safe places to ride a bike in Metro Detroit.

There is no planning for bike lanes, paved shoulders,  or similar on-road facilities that would make Farmington Hills more bikeable and safer.  There is no mention of building Complete Streets or even Safe Routes to School.

The draft plan does mention bike paths, which appear to be wide sidewalks — not AASHTO compliant bicycle facilities.

Area cyclists are encouraged to contact the Farmington Hills Planning Department to let them know you want to safe bicycling facilities that follow AASHTO guidelines and best practices.

Detroit News

This is just a collection of small items…

Winter Cycling Photos

For three days in a row, either the Detroit News or the Detroit Free Press have run a photo of a cyclist riding in the cold and snowy environment.  The articles themselves were only about the cold weather and not about biking in it.

Cash for Clunkers

The Detroit News has reported that “Congress is mulling a proposal to pay people to get rid of those old gas guzzlers sitting in their driveways.”

Congress is talking about a $1 billion to $2 billion per program that would eventually reduce U.S. fuel usage by 40,000 and 80,000 barrels of fuel per day.

Under legislation introduced Wednesday in the House and Senate and called the “Cash for Clunkers” program, drivers could get vouchers of up to $4,500 when they turn in their old fuel-inefficient vehicles for scrapping and buy vehicles that get good gas mileage.

It seems the government could see much greater reduction in fuel usage by investing that money in bicycle facilities instead.

American Families and Bike Paths

Free Press

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) was recently on Face the Nation and commented on Obama’s economic stimulus bill and what would be “responsible.”

I think there’s a place for infrastructure, but what kind of infrastructure? Infrastructure to widen highways, to ease congestion for American families? Is it to build some buildings that are necessary?…  But if we’re talking about beautification projects, or we’re talking about bike paths, Americans are not going to look very kindly on this.

Really?  American families are not going to appreciate government spending on biking facilities?  An America Bikes survey found 53% of Americans favor
increased federal spending on bike facilities.

Congressman Earl Blumenauer

The New York Times wrote an excellent article on Oregon’s congressman Earl Blumenauer.

“We have been flogging this bicycle thing for 20 years,” said Mr. Blumenauer, a Democrat. “All of a sudden it’s hot.”

But Mr. Blumenauer’s goals are larger than putting Americans on two wheels. He seeks to create what he calls a more sustainable society, including wiser use of energy, farming that improves the land rather than degrades it, an end to taxpayer subsidies for unwise development — and a transportation infrastructure that looks beyond the car.

Note that you don’t need to be from Oregon to donate money to his campaign.  We need to make sure he stays in Washington and continues to carry the torch for better bicycling.

The Detroit Greenways Coalition is a group of non-profits involved in developing greenways and trails within the cities of Detroit, Hamtramck, and Highland Park.

The Coalition recently applied for and received a $3.5 million dollar grant to help continue and grow momentum for more non-motorized trails.  It’s a huge opportunity to get some significant projects completed and move others toward completion.

The grant specifically allocated monies to three projects: the Dequindre Cut extention (from Gratiot to Mack), the Midtown loop (Phase II), and the Conner Creek Greenway.  The grant money won’t pay for all of these project, but it will serve as matching funds to bring in MDOT and DNR grant funds.

The Free Press recently ran a story on this grant.

“I think it’s a really exciting contribution for Kresge to commit to Detroit neighborhoods in this way,” said Libby Pachota, project director for the Conner Creek Greenway. “And it’s exciting that folks want to support infrastructure development and green space in neighborhoods in Detroit.”

Stay tuned for more updates on Detroit trails.  It’s shaping up to be a good summer.

We previously discussed the plans for the Detroit River International Crossing (DRIC) bridge and whether it will accommodate bicycling.

Yesterday, the Federal Highway Administration made the following announcement:

Plans to build a second border crossing between Michigan and Ontario have received the necessary environmental approvals from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The “record of decision” (ROD), signed today by U.S. officials, represents the Detroit River International Crossing’s (DRIC) final environmental clearance and allows Michigan to begin right-of-way acquisition and construction planning for the bridge.

If completed, the project – including a plaza where tolls and U.S. border inspection activities will occur, and an interchange connecting it to I-75 – would span nearly seven miles. Under current estimates, the new crossing is expected to be open to traffic in 2013.

Prior to this announcement, MTGA and other groups (including the Detroit Mayor’s Office of Energy and Sustainability) submitted comments that encouraged biking and walking on the bridge.

These comments generally asked:

• How does this project positively impact Detroit greenways and the City’s non-motorized plan?
• How does the bridge accommodate bicyclists and pedestrians?

MTGA comments noted that not all of the greenways in the DRIC’s vicinity were included, nor was there any mention of Detroit’s non-motorized plan.  MDOT said they “will investigate ways to integrate these projects.”

MTGA also asked for clarification on how bicycle would be routed on the bridge.  (There is a sidewalk planned for pedestrians.)  MDOT  responded:

The accommodation for bicycles on the new river bridge is likely to be the right shoulder. When exiting the bridge, a bicyclist would remain to the right of traffic and proceed to a separate building near the primary processing booths for vehicles. After processing, there would be an exit to Jefferson Avenue. All of this is subject to the determination of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and its Canadian counterpart to allow bicycle use of the new Detroit River bridge.

That last statement could be a deal killer, though it’s difficult to imagine how a bicycle could be any more of a threat than a car or truck.

Still,  it may make sense to involve folks like Senator Carl Levin early on.  Senator Levin has been a major supporter of the Detroit Riverwalk and there’s every reason to believe he would go to bat for allowing bicycling across the bridge.

The Michigan Air Line is the name of a railroad that ran east and west across Michigan.  Nearly all of that railroad line has been abandoned and much if not most of it is now rail-to-trail.

(Note that the Michigan Airline name has nothing to do with air travel.  In fact, the Airline route was developed before bicyclists Wilbur and Orville Wright flew their first plane.)

A part of the Michigan Airline lies between the Huron Valley Trail and the West Bloomfield Trail.  It was the Coe Railroad which ran a dinner train.  The dinner train has ended and efforts are underway to abandon the rail line and convert it to a trail.

As we’ve mentioned earlier, this would be a hugely critical and popular trail connection.  We also noted last month that West Bloomfield was recommended to receive grant money to purchase their portion of the railroad.

The Spinal Column ran another article this week that sheds more light on the progress or lack thereof.

The Michigan Star Clipper Dinner Train made its final run on Wednesday, Dec. 31, closing a 24-year chapter in Walled Lake’s history but also opening up negotiations on selling the railroad’s land to local municipalities.

Railmark Holdings Company CEO and President B. Allen Brown has entered into discussions with Montoff Transportation Company to sell the railroad land. Although no official transaction has been finalized, Brown insists a deal is close at hand.

“There are legal complications but that’s to be expected in such a complicated transaction,” he said. “There are at least five parties involved. Suffice it to say that as of Dec. 31, there was no deal, but all parties are committed and we are all making a final push this month to finalize something by end of January.”

Rail-trail conversions are never easy or straightforward.  So, with a little luck and committment, there’s hope this missing trail link can become a premier connection in the near future.