According to this Detroit News article, “Wayne County Parks has allocated a $200,000 grant for a seven-mile bike trail. The trail will encompass central business district, several county and local parks, a golf course and schools and is expected to be completed by the end of this year.”

A little digging at the Redford Township web site revealed these proposed plans: Read the rest of this entry »

This looks like a fine proposal from Senator Tony Stamas. His Senate Bill 1069 would give tax credit to those who donate their land (or an interest in it) to the DNR. The land must be used for the preservation of open space, natural resources, outdoor recreation, farmland preservation, and more. The DNR would manage this donation process, developing donation criteria, and approving them.

It seems like another means for encouraging land preservation and increasing outdoor recreation with the state. Whether it truly gets used, and whether this bill even makes it out of the Michigan legislature remains to be seen.

The Flint Journal recently ran an excellent article on bike commuter Doug Cook. Here’s an excerpt:

Before you complain about your miserable drive in Wednesday’s winter storm, talk to Doug Cook.

He was the guy on the mountain bike ducking the spray from passing cars in the dark at 5 a.m.
Weekend forecast

Nearly every day for the past year — no matter the weather — Cook, 49, has commuted to work on a bike from his Grand Blanc Township apartment to his job as a business systems analyst at the University of Michigan-Flint.

He does it on a steel-frame bike immune to road salt, three layers of clothing, a big halogen headlight and flashing green light on the handlebars, red flashers on his helmet and bike, and red tube lights on a reflective vest.

Not only does Copenhagen have a well developed network of bike lanes, they have specially designed bike lane sweepers. In the winter, they use something similar but with snowplows. [Source: The Copenhagen Bike Culture Blog]

Chicago continues to lead the charge and set the biking standards for other cities to follow. This latest news comes from the Chicago Bicycle Federation:

Today Mayor Daley introduced the 2008 Bicycle Safety Ordinance to the Chicago City Council. The Chicagoland Bicycle Federation, which provided input as the Chicago Department of Transportation’s Bicycle Program developed the ordinance, was happy to hear about the ordinance’s introduction. It could mean a big step in protecting bicyclists in Chicago.

This ordinance is in accordance with Chicago’s Bike 2015 Plan by increasing fines for traffic violations that endanger bicyclists, making Chicago’s rules consistent with Illinois laws and clarifying instances where motorists are required to yield the right-of-way to bicyclists.

Specific provisions of the ordinance define three feet as the minimum safe distance to pass a bicyclist, prohibit opening a vehicle door into moving traffic, increase the fines for parking in bike lanes or marked shared lanes, clarify that left-turning motorists yield to oncoming bicyclists and prohibit motorists from turning right in front of a bicyclist.

Violation of the proposed rules will result in a minimum fine of $150 and no less than $500 when the violation results in a bicycle crash. The proposed ordinance will make it easier for police to issue tickets, and for prosecutors to bring charges when motorists hit bicyclists.

The proposed ordinance was assigned to the Committee for Traffic and Safety Control.