In Boulder, Colorado, the bike lanes are plowed first.  That gives you an idea of where they put their priorities.

And this is from a popular Copenhagen bike blog:

We salt our bike lanes and roads here in Copenhagen. Sometimes the wide stripe of salt on the bike lane is my weather report. If I see the stripe I know that snow is forecast and the city is ahead of the game with a preventive measure to ensure that the bike lane is as clear as possible until they can get out with the bike lane snowploughs.

Detroit now has an Office of Energy and Sustainability.  Mayor Ken Cockrel made the exciting announcement yesterday.

From Crain’s:

Detroit Mayor Ken Cockrel Jr. said Wednesday he plans to create green jobs and save the city money through a new emphasis on environmental issues.

“Today, we are all a bit more sensitive to the environment,” Cockrel said in making the announcement, “in part because we know the importance of being environmentally conscious, but also because we can enhance economic development in the City of Detroit while generating new jobs by being environmentally aware.”

This is great news from a cycling perspective since we’re obviously a very green solution.

And, in fact, this office is somewhat of an offshoot from Mayor’s Green Task Force, and before that, the Council President’s Green Task Force.  It was the latter that helped us get Detroit’s non-motorized transportation master plan moving through city government.

So, we expect this office has a role in making Detroit more bicycle friendly, and as a result, more green.

MyFoxDetroit has a video story covering this announcement.  The Detroit News, Free Press, and ClickonDetroit also covered this event.

We mentioned this a couple days ago when discussing Trust Fund grants, but it’s worth further coverage.

But first, we note that much non-motorized transportation road funding comes from MDOT (e.g. Transportation Enhancements, CMAQ) and the state fuel tax (a minimum of 1% of which must be spent on non-motorized facilities.)  But the bottom line is all road projects should routinely accomodate bicyclists — that is the Federal Highway Administration policy guideline — and facilities such as bike lanes and paved shoulders should be paid for through the same funding sources as roads.

No legal road user group should have to bring their own pot of money to the table in order to get safe facilities.

Now the Transportation Funding Task Force is recommending that the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund be diverted for transportation.

It’s a terrible idea.  Michigan voters changed Michigan’s Constitution to prevents such diversions so it’s difficult to understand how or why anyone would make such a recommendation.

Since 1976, Trust Fund grants have been a fundamental source for funding recreation and parkland acquisition in Michigan.  That funding has been used at the local and county levels, as well as by the DNR. Most of the area’s rail-trail projects are around because the Trust Fund helped purchase the land.  A list of Trust Fund projects is on-line.

We recommend contacting Governor Granholm to let her know you oppose diverting the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund for transportation.

Dennis Muchmore is the executive director for the MUCC also serves on the Trust Fund board.  He certainly doesn’t dance around the issue as his recent press release shows (see below).

Read the rest of this entry »

The New York Times recently ran an article on Detroit’s Greater Grace Temple (“Detroit Churches Pray for ‘God’s Bailout’”.)

Greater Grace, the largest church in Detroit, invited officials from the United Automobile Workers union to speak before Bishop Ellis gave his sermon, titled “A Hybrid Hope.”

“I don’t know what’s going to happen, but we need prayer,” he said. “When it’s all said and done, we’re all in this thing together.”

Bishop Ellis encouraged the congregation to pray, not that Congress would “do the right thing” and approve loaning money to the car companies, but that Detroiters would “make it” through these tough times.

Some bike blogs (here and here) picked up the article, apparently didn’t read it all that well, and wrote that the Church was praying for the Senate bailout.  Or maybe that just made a better story for them.  Piling on Detroit easy these days irregardless of the facts.

Bicycle Christmas

But on a more positive note, Greater Grace Temple has been a major supporter of bicycling in Detroit through their Bicycle Christmas program.

“For many people, one of their fondest childhood memories was to receive a brand new bicycle on Christmas morning,” says GGT’s Senior Pastor Bishop Charles H. Ellis III. “We want to do something to help those youngsters whose families who are hit hard by this economy and could face having little or nothing under the tree on Christmas Day.”

The church will be giving away 250 brand new bicycles to children from financially struggling families on Sunday, December 21, 2008. The giveaway will begin after the 10:00 a.m. service (approx. 12:30 p.m. – 12:45 p.m.). The church partnered with Meijer Stores and Sinai Grace Hospital to make the giveaway possible. Donations also came from church members.

Greater Grace Temple has given away more than 2,800 bikes to financially struggling families over the last 5 years.

Wow!  What a great program and a great cause.

If you are interested in helping or supporting this program, please contact the Greater Grace Temple.

Proposed trail bridge over Telegraph Road in Pontiac

The Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund (MNRTF) Board has recommended funding for 81 recreation projects and land acquisitions totaling $48.5 million be funded for 2008.

This was the most ever awarded for Trust Fund grants.  This is due to the higher prices paid for mineral (including oil & gas) leases on state property.

“Michigan is blessed with natural resources and special places that should be protected and enjoyed for generations to come,” said Governor Granholm. “These recommendations represent ways that we can ensure that Michigan citizens and visitors will be able to enjoy outdoor recreation now and in the future.”

A Threat to the Trust Fund

The Trust Fund is set up so that it can continue to fund recreation projects and land acquisition projects after the gas and oil run out.  That’s not the threat.

The threat is the Transportation Funding Task Force who recently recommended that the Trust Fund monies be diverted into the transportation budget.  As a whole, this was perhaps their only out-of-the-box recommendation yet it only shows how out-of-touch they are with reality.

Fortunately in 1985 Michigan voters put the Trust Fund in the state constitution to protect it from bad ideas such as this.

In the words of Dennis Muchmore, the MUCC Executive Director, “Raiding the Trust Fund would be an outrageous and unwarranted attempt to circumvent the public will.”

2008 Recommended Grants – Recreation Projects

Clinton River Trail Bridge (Pontiac), $485,000. This project will construct a new pedestrian bridge, approach and ramps over Telegraph Road.  This is absolutely huge and it almost didn’t make the cut.  This is only partial funding.  Additional grant money will be required.

Bell Creek Park Non-Motorized Trailway (Redford), $450,000. This project includes development of 600 feet of elevated boardwalk across a floodplain of the Bell Branch of the Rouge River, connecting two sidewalk ends. A 75-foot long bicycle/pedestrian bridge will span the river.

Kensington Metropark-Milford Trail Connector, $315,000. The project would include 1.2 miles of paved trail from the Kensington Metropark loop trail to the Milford-Kensington Trail (at the Dairy Queen.)

2008 Recommended Grants – Land Acquisitions

DNR  Southeast Lower Peninsula Land Consolidation, $4 million. This project will acquire various properties within Southeast Michigan, but especially private land within our state parks.

Academy Preserve Acquisition (Monroe), $2,192,500. This project will acquire approximately 128 acres of open space in the City of Monroe with a portion of Frenchtown Township. The site includes an oak savannah, oak-hickory forest, lowland forest, farmland and a forested island in the River Raisin.  There you go, Erie Hiker!

Michigan Air-Line Railway (West Bloomfield), $1,452,500. This project will acquire approximately 17 acres, or 2.5 miles, of railway corridor that connects the existing West Bloomfield trail west to Haggery Road.  This is great news for a trail project we discussed earlier.