First, let’s clarify what safety paths are. The term safety path is apparently a local definition usually nearly exclusively within Oakland County, Michigan. AASHTO’s Guidelines for the Development of Bicycling Facilities contains the generally accepted standard terms and definitions for bicycle facilities. According to AASHTO’s definitions, safety paths are wide sidewalks.

Also from the AASHTO guidelines:

Utilizing or providing a sidewalk as a shared use path is unsatisfactory for a variety of reasons. Sidewalks are typically designed for pedestrian speed and maneuverability and are not safe for higher speed bicycle use. Conflicts are common between pedestrians traveling at low speeds and bicyclists… At intersections, motorists are often not looking for bicyclists.

It is important to recognize that the development of extremely wide sidewalks does not necessary add to the safety of sidewalk bicycle travel. Wide sidewalks might encourage higher speed bicycle use and increase potential for conflicts with motor vehicles at intersections, as well as with pedestrians and fixed objects.

There are two major studies that compared bicycle safety on roads and sidewalks.

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Here’s more video from NBC Nightly News on America’s growing switch to bike commuting. As noted, many cities across the U.S. have the infrastructure to help their residents make that switch. Unfortunately that is not the case in nearly all of Detroit’s suburbs.

Many cities… have a well-established infrastructure of bike lanes, bike-friendly public transit systems, and bike parking, making switching from four wheels to two easy for drivers fed up with high gas prices.

As we noted earlier, Governor Granholm started occasionally biking to work.

Our Governor also said that MDOT was looking at building more bike lanes. We made some calls to MDOT to learn more.

This is apparently “a new challenge to MDOT to get more on-road paved shoulders to assist with bicycle travel.” The are especially looking opportunities where they could connect with existing regional bike networks using state trunk lines.

This is very welcomed news for Michigan cyclists.

Also, Michigan’s governor riding to work did get some ink in the Chicago Tribune recently:

You know times are tough when the governor of Michigan, the top executive in the state that put the nation on wheels and sold a generation of Americans on the virtues of gas-guzzling trucks and SUVs, is now riding her bike to work.

This symbolic gesture by Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm—pedaling a couple of days a week to the state Capitol in Lansing—is part of an evolving behavior shift by individuals, employers and governments struggling to adjust to the hard reality of gas at more than $4 a gallon, as well as higher energy costs overall.

The Oakland Press reported about Michigan’s Governor commuting by bike to the State Capitol:

Gov. Jennifer Granholm is riding her bike to work a couple of times a week, an example of a way she says Michigan consumers can save money.

The 49-year-old governor lives just southwest of the city center, about 3 miles from her office near the state Capitol. She rode her blue bike to work Wednesday, accompanied by her security detail.

The state Department of Transportation is looking at state roads to figure out where it would be safe to add bike lanes and is planning to expand park-and-ride lots and add more, since some are at capacity as more drivers carpool to save money, Granholm said.

Heather Newman of the Free Press also blogged on this:

Granted, Granholm’s three-mile commute isn’t exactly a grueling workout. But most of us make plenty of short trips – to the dry cleaners, or the local supermarket/convenience store, or the movie rental place – that we could probably reach easily on a bike. Or walk to, for that matter.

It’d save a little gas, and it might add a few calories to our daily workout. It’d cut down just a bit on our personal smog emissions. But more importantly, it’d contribute to giving us all a more healthy, active lifestyle – one fueled by the recognition that our legs can, in fact, take us to meaningful places.

In a prior post, we noted that many road agencies and municipalities in Metro Detroit are the major roadblock to getting safe bicycling facilities.

For example, the Road Commission of Oakland County refuses to acknowledge much less use best practices for bicycling facilities. They ignore the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHTO) guidelines for bicycling facilities. They ignore Federal Highway Administration guidance. They ignore bicycling safety studies that show their policies have been consistently found to be unsafe.

We appreciate the fact that Craig Bryson, Public Information Officer for the Road Commission for Oakland County responded:

The Road Commission for Oakland County has no objection to bikers. We simply have no money available to make costly improvements to roads to allow bikers. We cannot afford to simply maintain smooth pavement on the roads or even begin to address the massive congestion that clogs our roads everyday. It would be very difficult to justify spending scarce resources on bike facilities when we can’t maintain the existing roads. If you are proposing additional funding just for bike facilities, we’re more than willing to listen.

However, Craig isn’t correct. It’s not about the road money.

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