E.J. Levy recently sent me an article about Colorado State Highways and how many of them have paved shoulders 4 feet or wider — a great way to make roads safer for bicyclists.  Colorado has had a policy since 1999 to add these shoulders to their state highways.  Nine years later, 72% of their state highway roads have them.

I am not sure if this includes Interstates, where in Colorado they are sometimes open to biking (e.g. I-70, I-76.)

So what’s the story in Michigan? As of last year, 35.8% of MDOT trunklines had paved shoulders 4′ or greater.    That percentage does not include Interstates, which are not currently opening to Michigan bicyclists.

That’s 3,031 miles of state roads with wide paved shoulders.

According to Josh Debruyn, MDOT’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator, “In the last two years, MDOT has added 365 miles of paved shoulder suitable for bicycling and the number continues to grow every year.”

We expect these to grow as well now that the Governor has directed MDOT to do more.

And don’t think paved shoulders are just for bicyclists.  They help roads last longer, provide a safe pull-off area for vehicles, and allow vehicles to pass bicyclists more safely.

Now if we could only get the Metro Detroit road agencies (e.g. Road Commission for Oakland County) to step up and make this same committment to bicyclist safety.

2007 bicycle-vehicle crashes in Troy

This is a map of bicycle-vehicle crashes in Troy for 2007.  Troy had 20 such crashes in 2007, which was the second highest in Oakland County, 10 crashes fewer than Royal Oak.

While it’s difficult understanding how and where each crash occurs, it appears that all but a few crashes occured on sidewalks and crosswalks.  This coincides with national studies showing sidewalks are the least safe place to ride a bicycle.

It should be noted that, Troy is being very proactive and is looking to improve biking and walking safety within their community.

Okay, so this USA Weekend article is Photoshopped. Detroit was not listed.

Still it could be listed in the future.

A stunning network of trails and greenways is being developed. There is a plan for 400 miles of bike lanes.

And because Detroit is under one government, it’s going to be much easier to implement consistent city-wide biking plans compared with nearby counties. In the counties, bike advocates need to convince many individual city, village, and township governments to get on board, which is no small task.

Royal Oak had the most bike-car crashes among all Oakland County municipalities in 2007

As noted earlier, last year Royal Oak had more reported car-bike crashes than any other city, village, or township in Oakland County.  In fact no one even came close.

We’ve now mapped those crashes so you can get a rough idea of where they happened.

For many years now we’ve been trying to push Royal Oak to improve biking within the city.  Neither city officials nor commissioners seem all that interested in taking any meaningful action.

Most recently I’d arranged a deal that would bring Dan Burden, one of the nation’s foremost biking and walking experts to Royal Oak for consultation on MDOT’s dime.  I even offered to complete the necessary paperwork.

Weeks later, my calls and email are still unanswered.

This free opportunity to get start improving biking and walking safety in Royal Oak has passed.

It’s time to move on to Plan B.  Stay tuned.

Last Thursday was another monthly Green Tea event, this time promoting biking in Detroit. It was a great success with a very large and diverse turnout.

Wheelhouse Bike Tours

The Tea began with an introduction from our hosts Kelli and Karen from the Wheelhouse Detroit bike shop on the Detroit Riverwalk. The shop specializes in rentals, service, accessories, and bike tours. They have a freebie Wednesday night ride (9 PM). Now the are offering guided Neighborhood Tours, some of which include lunch. And of course you can rent a Wheelhouse bike as well. Check out the Wheelhouse web site for further details.

400 Miles of Bike Lanes

Next, I spoke to the group about Detroit greenways and the Non-Motorized Transportation Master Plan. The latter was developed by Giffels-Webster and was funded by MDOT. The plan inventoried the many cycling destinations across Detroit, including parks, schools, cultural centers, recreational centers, etc. It looked at how to best connect them with a network of on-road bike facilities — bike lanes and shared signed routes.

In summary, the plan calls for nearly 400 miles of bikes lanes across the City of Detroit that could be implemented during normal road maintenance by simply re-striping existing roads. [Additional details regarding this plan will be posted to m-bike in the upcoming week.]

And while this plan was accepted by Detroit’s Traffic Engineering Division, it had not gone before City Council. The GreenWays Initiative and MTGA worked to change that. Last month Giffels-Webster gave a presentation of the plan to Council President Ken Cockrel’s Green Task Force. We discussed the plan with other City Council members and distributed the copies of it.

On September 8th, City Council will have a discussion of this non-motorized plan. We need pedestrians and cyclists to attend and voice their support during the public comment period. The Council is meeting on the 13th floor of the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center on September 8th at 11:15AM.

Biking to Eastern Market

Next, the group hopped on their bikes and rode from the Wheelhouse to Eastern Market. We were greeted at Shed 2 by Market President Dan Carmody and a box of healthy snacks. We discussed how to make Detroit more bike friendly and how the Dequindre Cut trail will be an excellent connection between the Riverwalk and the Market.

Special thanks to Kathryn Underwood and others for helping make this Green Tea a big success.