MDOT recently announced another round of Transportation Enhancement grants. This funding comes from the federal transportation bill and is the major funding source for bike projects in Michigan.

There are a couple bike-related local projects receiving this funding.

The first is for a Anthony Wayne Drive, which is really a continuation of Second and Third Streets through the Wayne State University campus in Detroit. This street of road will be made into a Complete Street, including more bike lanes. These bike lanes will connect with those planned by the New Center Council on Second Avenue to the north and those planned by the city to the south.

The second project is less exciting from a cycling perspective, though it does include bike racks.

The village of Lake Orion and Lake Orion Downtown Development Authority will develop a project that will create a sense of arrival and enhance the historic nature of a unique downtown district. The project area includes Broadway Street, from M-24 to Shadboldt, and Flint Street, from Lapeer to Anderson. Project elements include replacing streetlight globes and installing brick pavers, benches, bike racks, trees and tree grates. The project cost is $684,535, including $444,948 in federal TE funds and $239,587 in match from the Lake Orion Downtown Development Authority.

It’s very difficult to explain just how bike friendly the city of Detroit is unless you’ve ridden there.

However, this recent photo really shows some of that friendliness. This is Second Avenue looking north from the Cass Corridor, less than a mile north of the central business district. Five lanes, one-way, and a 2,200 cars per day (as of 2003). That’s 1.5 cars per minute spread over five lanes.

Yes, this is one of the best case road scenarios in Detroit, but there are others just like it: Third, John R, Brush, Rosa Parks, etc. With the expressways pulling away the motorized traffic, urban flight, and the removal of the street car tracks, we’ve got plenty of room to ride.

We should also mention that the city of Detroit is planning on making Second Avenue as well as Third back into two-way streets — with bike lanes. It’ll arguably more bike friendly and convenient for those traveling south. As fun as it is to bike the current configuration, it the city’s plan make plenty of sense.

Bicycle Friendly State

The League of American Bicyclists have released their 2010 rankings of U.S. states based on their bicycle friendliness.

Michigan dropped one slot to 16th. This slip appears due to other states passing legislation which gives them additional points.

Here is Michigan’s rankings within the six categories:

• 37th – Legislation
• 12th – Policies and Programs
• 5th – Infrastructure
• 4th – Education
• 38th – Evaluation
• 27th – Enforcement

America’s Fittest Cities

American College of Sports Medicine has released their 2010 American Fitness Index report.

Washington D.C. is the top Metro area for the third year in a row.

The nation’s capital is also a well-endowed city when it comes to community recreation centers, ball fields and other places to exercise. Washington has the second-highest rate of people walking or biking to work, aided by 60 miles of bike lanes. [Ed. emphasis ours]

On the other hand, just because there are a lot of parks and bike lanes being built doesn’t mean that everyone uses them. And by giving points simply for having infrastructure, the index might favor wealthier cities or those with bigger governments. “It’s a fair point,” says Brenda Chamness, who gathers the data for the index. Chamness points out that research has found that fitness levels rise along with the building of new facilities. “If individuals do not have access to safe, convenient and affordable places to exercise, they would be less likely to exercise.”

Where’s Metro Detroit? We’re near the bottom, 47th out of 50. Metro Detroit was 44th in 2009 and 41st in 2008. The trend is apparent.

Today’s Free Press has a very good article outlining some of the exciting progress being made towards making Detroit even more bike friendly.

Detroit is embarking on an ambitious plan to create bike lanes on roads across town, giving cyclists like Jon Koller designated space for riding as city leaders and community groups rethink street and land use in a shrinking city.

It’s a big change. Although the city is starting with about 30 miles in a handful of neighborhoods this year, there eventually could be as many as 400 miles of bike lanes in Detroit.

“I think it’s going to encourage more people to get out there and take biking as a serious form of transportation,” said Koller, 25, who lives in the city’s Corktown neighborhood and commutes by bike to Wayne State University, where he’s a doctoral student in transportation engineering.

As per usual, the Free Press comment section certainly inspires this area’s least informed yet most opinionated. It’s apparent that those writing the most negative comments have never ridden a bike in Detroit.

As of this posting, there were 167 comments about painting these bike lanes.

Click on Detroit has a similar yet very brief article. Their photo shows someone riding a off road path that clearly not in Detroit.

First, NBC is in Detroit today for an upcoming national story which includes biking in Detroit. It is expected to air later this month….

Detroit on Two Wheels: Wheelhouse

A short article from Papermag gives some love to the Wheelhouse Detroit, which is now open for business.

Not every form of transportation in the Motor City requires an engine. Wheelhouse Detroit, a bicycle shop in downtown Detroit, that offers rentals, retail, and service. They also offer tours that help make little-known tourist gems more accessible in a city that is spread across many miles.

Detroiters Kelli Kavanaugh and Karen Gage opened Wheelhouse two years ago and they emphasize the ecological practices of their business, including the t-shirts and sustainable water bottles they sell. “Our store is an opportunity to get to talk to people about road safety and spread the word that cars need to share the road with riders,” said Gage, who also works as an urban planner in the city.

Real Detroit also ran a nice article on the shop.

Big plans for the future Detroit

The Detroit Free Press published a big article which compiles the various plans for Detroit — including the greenway and non-motorized plans.

The city plans to put up about 30 miles of bike lanes and more than 12 miles of routes designed for cyclists starting in September in southwest Detroit, near Wayne State and on the east side. The aim is a network of hundreds of miles of biking and walking paths connecting neighborhoods and attractions across the city.

There’s also updates on the RiverWalk and Midtown Loop. The Free Press did a find job creating a map showing bike lane projects planned for this year.

The same issue included an editorial.

For all its troubles today, Detroit is also a place brimming with hope for tomorrow.

When you assemble all the proposals, plans and dreams that have been advanced in recent months, the city of 2020 looks dramatically different than it looks today: smaller, smarter, greener, more mobile, with more job opportunities — and once again the pounding heart of a metropolitan region.

You see thousands of kids attending schools that work for them. You see people using light rail and boarding buses in a transit system that serves them. You see a gleaming, growing medical complex; banners being hoisted to the rafters of a new sports arena; and people tending little farms that nourish their neighborhoods in more ways than one. You see convention-goers strolling a crowded RiverWalk and bicyclists coasting the downhills of a new trail network.

Bicyclists coasting the downhills? It’s a nice thought, but with Detroit being built on a former lake bed, there aren’t going to be many downhills of note.

Michigan residents are winners under new state parks passport law

Howard Meyerson, a columnist with the Grand Rapids Press, has covered the state park funding situation for years. His latest column celebrates the passage of the Recreation Passport legislation. He also shined some light on those that opposed or at least delayed these bills.

It wasn’t an easy passage. The Chamber of Commerce and transportation lobby opposed it. Speaker of the House Andy Dillon held it up over the holidays, reportedly to help an old college buddy, now a transportation lobbyist.

But in the end, wiser heads prevailed.

Yes, wiser heads did prevail. The new payment system begins this October, so everyone will still need to purchase their 2010 Motor Vehicle Pass stickers.

Detroit was represented well at the 10th annual National Bike Summit in DC

And, Model D just published an article on the recent National Bike Summit. They referenced our review of the event. Thanks, Model D!