The video below is from the Knippels Bridge in Copenhagen during rush hour. If this were in Detroit, people would assume it’s an organized group ride. Is it any wonder than Danes make up the happiest nation?

Note that a dedicated bus (and tulip truck) lane provides some separation between the cars and bikes.

Imagine how many more lanes of roadway would need to be built if these cyclists were in their own individual cars.

Thanks to the Copenhagen Cycle Chic blog for originally posting this video — “bike advocacy in heels.”

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: (more…)

From From metromode:
“The Ypsi City Council approved adding seven blocks of bike lanes along West Forest Avenue between College Place and Norris Street. A Michigan Department of Transportation grant is paying for most of the $80,000 project while the city forks up (pun intended) $16,000 of the tab. The city will widen the road at certain points to accommodate bike lanes on both sides.

“Although Ypsilanti doesn’t have a specific non-motorized transportation plan, like Ann Arbor, it does try to add in bike lanes and paths where possible when roads are being rebuilt or resurfaced.”

From the Michigan Land Use Institute: “It’s not that Mr. Burden dislikes cars. It’s just that he is certain that the quality of life improves if people don’t spend so much time sitting in them. And, like everybody else, he can’t stand congestion. He’s come up with some unexpected solutions. The answer to traffic congestion in most towns isn’t making roads wider, says Mr. Burden. Just the opposite: Roads need to be put on a “diet.” Taking lanes away slows traffic but, surprisingly, the road then actually carries more vehicles more efficiently. Mr. Burden has other traffic remedies, such as shrinking intersections, constructing roundabouts, building boulevards with divided medians, and designing places where people can walk, bike, and ride public transit.”

metromode’s recent interview with Robert F. Kennedy included a question on bike infrastructure investment. (Thanks, Kelly!)

mode: There are other environmental initiatives in Michigan right now, such as the Greenways Initiative, which is investing millions of dollars into a network of trails and bike lanes in Southeast Michigan. Can you speak to how such investment can spur economic development and whether or not such an investment is prudent in a time of recession and high unemployment?

RFK: Let me say this: Good economic policy is, 100 percent of the time, good environmental policy. Conservation produces many more jobs than does the exploitation of virgin resources. If, on the other hand, we treat the planet as a business in liquidation for a few years of pollution prosperity, for an illusion, our children are going to pay for our joyride. It is deficit spending — our prosperity on the backs of our children.

We are not protecting fish and birds here. Nature is the infrastructure of our community. If we want to meet our obligation as a generation, as a nation, as a civilization and provide the next generation with the community that our parents gave us, we have to start by protecting our environmental infrastructure. This is our lakes, bike ways, rivers — the landscapes that connect us to our past, our history, and provide a context to our communities. They are our source, ultimately, of values, virtues, our character as a people.

Investment in the environment does not somehow diminish our nation’s wealth. It is an investment in infrastructure, like telecommunications and roads. It ensures the economic vitality of our generation and the next generation.