Clinton River Trail: Bridge Groundbreaking

MDOT and the city of Pontiac are hosting a groundbreaking ceremony for the new trail bridge over Telegraph. The ceremony is August 12th at 10AM on the eastern edge of the bridge near Old Telegraph.

This bridge will connect two important pieces of the Clinton River Trail that are currently very difficult to connect using surface streets. A rendering of the bridge is shown on the right. This project is being funded primarily with ARRA (a.k.a. stimulus) money. The Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund is also contributing.

This still leaves one major gap in the Clinton River Trail for Pontiac: from Bagley Street west of Downtown to the Auburn Hills border at Opdyke.

We are clearly ignoring the trail’s improper signed routing of the Clinton River Trail through Downtown Pontiac on sidewalks. Yes, a newly signed bicycle route on sidewalks.

We’re not sure how such obvious mistake could have been funded by MDOT given the AASHTO bicycle guidelines clear instructions against it — especially within a central business district. It’s unsafe for cyclists and pedestrians.

Macomb Orchard Trail: More Asphalt

The Detroit News is reporting that nine more miles of the Macomb Orchard Trail will be paved.

Officials recently authorized the county to seek a low-interest loan to pay for paving those parts of the trail.

“We’ve already submitted our application and it’s being reviewed,” said Bob Hoepfner, the county’s chief highway engineer. “Hopefully we’ll know if it’s approved in about a month. We’d like to get it paved this year if we can.”

There were many complaints about the existing pea gravel surface, so this is certainly good news for cyclists and pedestrians.

Milford Village: Seeking Sidepaths

Another Oakland County government with its DDA was looking to build a side paths for bicyclists (calling them “safety” paths) in spite of the AASHTO bicycle guidelines against it. This sidepath would include 18 intersections in less than one-third of a mile: 2 sidewalks, 3 roads, and 13 residential driveways.

“We asked how can we do this economically,” [Village Manager Arthur] Shufflebarger said. “The DDA went through the options, and said this one was the least expensive.”

They apparently didn’t go through the AASHTO bicycle design guidelines for options. The least expensive option would be an safe, on-road connection.

That said, the?sidepath project was stopped within the same month due to other reasons.

I-275 Metro Trail: Open House

MDOT is scheduling another 5.5 miles of trail reconstruction along I-275 for next spring. This includes rehabilitating “six bridges and two boardwalks, install a pedestrian signal at Ecorse Road and upgrade signs.”

The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) is hosting an open house-style meeting to provide an overview on the 2011 construction work on the I-275 Metro Trail in Wayne County. The project includes reconstruction of the bike path between US-12 (Michigan Avenue) and I-94. Interested stakeholders will have the opportunity to learn details and provide feedback regarding this project.

The open house is August 10th, from 5pm until 7pm at the Fellows Creek Golf Club (2936 South Lotz Road in Canton.)

Detroit News columnist Donna Terek had an interesting article on Detroit’s rickshaws.

We’re seeing more and more bicycles on the streets of Detroit, but the sets of wheels that have been catching my eye lately are three-wheelers. They’re pedicabs or rickshaws, and Mike Rosemond of Detroit is one of a handful of operators pedaling folks around town for modest fares with his Rickshaw Detroit.

“We’re really excited about how the pedicabs are catching on,” says Walker, who was born and raised in Detroit. “We really enjoy changing people’s perception of Detroit.”

“A lot of couples leave here with a really enlightened view of the city,” he says. “I had one couple I was driving when the fireworks started at Comerica Park. They got out and took pictures. They said the ride just made their vacation.”

Jobs don’t get much greener than this.

Also, the Detroit News column included this excellent video. The city and the RiverWalk never looked better.

The Mower Gang, a self-professed “greatest gang of idiots to ever run a lawn tractor” is spending this Friday at 10AM to clean up the Dorais Velodrome. The velodrome is northeast of E. Outer Drive and Mound Road in Detroit. You need to walk into the park in order to see the track itself.

Or just listen for the sound of mowers on Friday.

According to Tom Nardone, the gang’s founder:

This Friday, August 6th, a couple of friends and I (the first official members of the Mower Gang) are going to attempt to revive Detroit’s abandoned Velodrome (banked bicycle racing track). The track is really overgrown, and needs some work, but since no one has used it in years, It should be a great project for us.

In fact, at around 5PM, the Detroit Free Press will be there to shoot some video of people playing on the track. If anyone wants to show up it would look good for all of us. People would find out about the Mower Gang (http://www.mowergang.com) and it would be fun. When else are you going to get to run hot laps around a huge banked oval?

Their web site notes that anyone is welcomed to join in.

All you have to do is show up to any of our events and bring some type of grass annihilation machine with you.

With the RiverWalk being mostly completed from Joe Louis Arena to Belle Isle, it’s time to start discussing the west portion. This runs from Joe Louis Arena, beyond the Ambassador Bridge and over to W. Grand Boulevard. There are already some conceptual ideas on paper, but the Riverfront Conservancy wants to hear from the community.

Here are the meeting details:

We want to hear from you! The Detroit Riverfront Conservancy is hosting a community meeting on Thursday, August 12 at 6:00pm to discuss our conceptual plans for the West Riverfront. The Detroit Riverfront Conservancy values your input as being critical to our success; we invite you to share your thoughts as we move forward with the vision to transform Detroit’s International Riverfront, the face of Detroit into a beautiful, exciting, safe, accessible, world-class gathering place for all. To RSVP, send an e-mail to?rsvp@detroitriverfront.org or call 313.566.8248.

Please RSVP by August 9th.

The meeting will be held at the Delray Senior Pavilion at 275 West Grand Boulevard.

Both Complete Streets bills (HB 6151 and HB 6152) were presented to Governor Granholm last Thursday afternoon. Late Sunday, she signed them both.

They were sent to the Secretary of State’s office on Monday as Public Acts 134 and 135 of 2010.

Congratulations to everyone who helped make this possible!

Of course the work is just beginning. These bills really just set the stage for implementing Complete Streets throughout Michigan.