Just catching up on some Detroit biking stories in the news on World Car Free Day…

Critical Mass Detroit

Last month, Real Detroit Weekly had some coverage on Detroit’s Critical Mass ride.

Biking in from the suburbs may not be an easy task, but once you make it down to Detroit you realize how friendly the city can be on two wheels. Every last Friday of the month, an ever-growing group of bikers take back the streets for a little ride called Critical Mass.

This first paragraph highlights one major point. Detroit’s Critical Mass ride is fun and is becoming hugely popular — but it’s not about taking back the streets. Detroit bicyclists already have it quite good on the streets.

If this Critical Mass were about making a statement for cyclists rights, it would be in the suburbs during rush hour. It would be in Rochester Hills, Canton, and Sterling Heights.

The ride is more like a mini-Tour de Troit without the food and T-shirt — and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Conner Creek Greenway Update

Model D has a brief greenway construction update from Detroit’s east side.

The Riverfront Terminus of the Conner Creek Greenway is currently being built. This segment follows Clairpointe from Jefferson south to Maheras Gentry Park and includes bike lanes and landscaping along Clairpointe and a new trail and landscaping on the west side of the park. Construction is slated to be complete by end of October.

This summer, another segment of the greenway, one mile of bike lanes along St. Jean between Jefferson and Mack, was completed. The next stretch will run alongside Mt. Olivet Cemetery on Conner. The entire trail system is slated to be complete in 2013.

Motor City Road Diets

The Free Press has been publishing excerpts from John Gallagher’s new book, Reimagining Detroit. Gallagher discusses road diets and how they can lead to more bike lanes and improved pedestrian safety.

We almost never focus on the wide-open spaces of our main streets. Making Woodward, Jefferson, Gratiot, and the other spoke streets nine lanes wide (three lanes for traffic in each direction, one in the middle for turning, and a lane along either curb for parking) may have made sense in the 1950s when the city boasted a population near two million people.

But with Detroit’s population less than half its 1950s-era peak, these main streets now are absurdly overbuilt for the amount of traffic they carry.

Pedestrians, particularly seniors or parents with children in tow, find it all but impossible to cross one of these nine-line gulfs before the light changes. By narrowing the streets from three traffic lanes in each direction to two — by putting many of Detroit’s streets on a road diet — the city could make it easier for pedestrians to cross.

Since the 1950’s, Detroit’s urban freeway network also pulled many cars off these main roads as well, hence the great biking conditions.

Biking: a central theme

The Hamilton Spectator reported on this year’s Ontario Bike Summit. Jeff Olson from Alta Planning gave a little plug for Detroit.

A biking ‘guru’ who helped transform Portland into a cycling oasis has offered his expertise to Hamilton, a city he believes has “progressive potential.”

Jeff Olson, partner at Alta Planning and Design and a speaker at yesterday’s Ontario Bike Summit 2010 in Burlington, said a number of U.S. cities are using bicycles as a central theme in their shift from manufacturing hubs to modern urban centres. Included in that list are Buffalo, Dayton, Detroit and Cleveland.

Olson did some consulting on Detroit greenways last year and was truly awestruck by the biking potential.

The August 2010 Critical Mass Ride in Detroit had nearly 500 riders

Without a doubt, this weekend has more Detroit riding opportunities than any other.

Friday’s rides

• 7 PM: Critical Mass ride from the corner of Warren and Trumbull near the Wayne State University campus.
• 9 PM: University of Detroit-Mercy Midnight Bike Ride. Registration begins at 8:00pm in Kassab Mall at the McNichols campus at the Livernois entrance.

Saturday’s rides

• 6 AM: Beat the Train ride. The group rolls out at 6:30 AM from historic Fort Wayne on the Detroit River.
• 9 AM: Tour de Troit Metric Century
• 10 AM: Tour de Troit. Over 2,700 cyclists have registered as of yesterday. Registration closes tomorrow, so sign up now so you don’t miss out.

First, a quick update from the Tour-de-Troit web site:

REGISTRATION WILL CLOSE ON WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22 at 8:00 pm! If you would like to register in-person instead of on-line, we will have a booth at Blocktoberfest from 12-8:00 on the 22nd.

THERE WILL BE NO ON-SITE REGISTRATION FOR THE 2010 TOUR! Response to this year’s ride has been huge, and in order to be able to guarantee a safe and fun event for our riders, we will not be able to register anyone on site. To guarantee your spot in the 2010 tour, please register now!

If you want to volunteer, please try attending tonight’s volunteer meeting at the Boll Family YMCA. With the huge turnout, the Tour is going to need more volunteers than ever before.

Here is more information on tonight’s meeting or you can visit the Tour-de-Troit volunteer web page:

This year’s Volunteer meeting to discuss the 2010 ride and volunteer roles and responsibilities will be on Monday, September 20th at 7:00pm at the Boll Family YMCA.  The meeting should last less than one hour.

This event is considered mandatory for our volunteers; however, if you can’t join us at that time but still would like to volunteer, please contact us.  Also, please feel free to invite friends and family that may be interested to volunteer, as we could always use a couple extra helping hands!

Additionally, we will be having a registration packet assembly party at 7:00 pm on Tuesday the 21st — we will provide food & drink for this one (think beer and pizza) and we will be putting together 3000+ registration packets.  It should be a good time, and it is a great way to help out and still be able to ride on Saturday.  If you are interested in helping on the 21st, please email us at info@tour-de-troit.org or let us know at the meeting on Monday.

Here’s a link to the Boll Family Y, and metered street parking is free after 6:00pm.

Thanks again, and we look forward to seeing you on the 20th!

Cheers,

Your 2010 Tour de Troit Planning Team

Wayne State University’s 7th annual Drive Safely to Wayne State Campaign begins today.

We think it should be renamed “Arrive Safety at Wayne State”. This name better reflects the many transportation options Wayne State University students have, which is truly a competitive advantage over suburban schools such as Oakland University.

The need to update the name should also be apparent since this year’s event coincides with changes to Anthony Wayne Drive.

According this this Free Press article:

Anthony Wayne Drive is getting new landscaping, more than 100 new parking spaces, streetlights and pedestrian crossing lights. Lanes will be reduced from four to two in each direction, and bike lanes will be installed. It’s part of an effort to make the street — between Warren and Kirby — more accommodating to pedestrians and retail customer vehicles.

The cost of the project is $900,000, with 80% of it being paid for by the Michigan Department of Transportation and the rest coming from WSU. The project should be complete by the end of October.

The bike lanes have not yet been striped as work continues on the pedestrian crossings and bump outs.

We do hope that the additional parking alleviates the need for double-parking as shown in the above photo. Or at least the added parking and bike lanes would mean stepped up local enforcement.

This Saturday, September 18th is the Friends of the Clinton River Trail Fall Classic Ride. And this year there’s a 5K walk option as well.

You can still register on-site at Riverside Park in Auburn Hills on the morning of the event starting at 8:30 AM.

C and G News recently ran a story on this event and others that the Friends are involved in.

The Clinton River Trail Fall Classic is coordinated by Friends of the Clinton River Trail, a volunteer organization dedicated to developing and improving the trail for all users.

“We coordinate the printing of maps and stock the map boxes,” said Mimi Zwolak, event coordinator. “We send out an annual newsletter. We are all volunteers, different from the Paint Creek Trail, which has a commission. We meet monthly and we are a loose governing body.”

The Clinton River Trail is so lucky to have a Friends group such as this. The group is so energetic and willing to lead — and fun, too. They are a super dedicated group, so you should feel pretty good if you can come out on Saturday to support them.