Like other baseball stadiums around the country, the Detroit Tigers are looking at steps they can take to reduce their environmental impact of the games.

And to help highlight their efforts, they hosted a Going, Going, Green event at Comerica Park.

The event included many green-oriented booths including one for the Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance (MTGA). I was at the booth for Saturday and Sunday to share information on trail efforts throughout Detroit as well as Michigan.

While there, I had a opportunity to discuss bike parking at Comerica Park with Tigers management. I suggested that next year’s Going, Going Green event have guarded valet parking for bikes, but the discussion shifted to how can we improve bike parking for all of the Tiger home games.

Stay tuned…

Last week the Great Lakes Metros Summit was held in Buffalo, New York.

And to quote Artvoice, this event was where “activists and policymakers from around the Great Lakes gathered to share homegrown solutions to Rust Belt problems.”

At the Summit, I moderated a panel on Complete Streets and Transit while also providing a brief overview status of Detroit’s greenways and non-motorized transportation based on my work for the Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance (MTGA).

Our panel included Rory Neuner from the Michigan Environmetnal Council and a League of Michigan Bicyclists director. Rory is very active with the Walk and Bike Lansing campaign. They are working on a Complete Streets policy for Lansing.

If you are a Lansing resident, please visit their web site to learn how you can help make Lansing “accessible and walk & bike friendly!”

Next on the panel was Dom Nozzi of Richmond, Virginia. Dom has an invaluable web site devoted to making cities more bikeable and walkable. His four-part speech from Bloomington, Indiana really defines a vision for how we need to prioritize transportation for people first rather than cars.

After the summit, I had a chance to talk with Dom. One interesting point he made is that many people are stuck with outdated transportation paradigms, primarily that mobility — high speeds, wide roads — is the primary goal. They’ve committed themselves to this paradigm and cannot step back to view the bigger picture. They are often unconvinceable. An advocates best hope is they will be replaced or retire.

And also on the panel was Justin Booth, who certainly plays a major role in all the good things happening in Buffalo with respect to biking.

Justin created Buffalo’s Blue Bicycle program, a low-cost, simple, innovative means for sharing bikes across town.

Also, Justin helped create the Rusty Chain beer program here a portion of sales from a custom locally-brewed beer go towards bike racks — an example of which is shown next to Justin in the above photo. To date the program has generated $10,000, which has been matched with city and federal funding (CMAQ). As a result, businesses within Buffalo’s Central Business District can request bicycle racks which are installed for free.

Buffalo recently installed 110 bicycle racks! Justin noted that the racks are custom designed and made locally.

That’s something worth raising a glass to.

We made a suggestion that it’d be real nice if the Art, Beats, and Eats festival in Pontiac had a secured bike corral for bikes commuters.  After all, the Clinton River Trail will eventually pass through Downtown Pontiac once completed.

The organizers were listening.

My bike will be in the corral on Friday and Saturday.  Hopefully it’ll be parked next to yours!

From the Arts, Beats, and Eats web site:

Take your bicycle to the festival, as well feature a bicycle corral where festival volunteers will register bikers to win cool gear.  Downtown Pontiac is easily accessible from the Clinton River Trail, which extends through Rochester on the eastern side and Waterford to the west.  You bring a lock and well have a place to park your bike, and we will have security watching them as well. More information on the ITC Greenways Biking Corral is coming soon

In Ferndale

The City is installing at least five new bike racks in Downtown. And according to this, they won’t be your run of the mill, cold gray steel variety. Ferndale is Fashionable even when it comes to bike racks!

Bicycling in Ferndale is about to become a bit easier and more secure this spring. The city plans to install at least five new artistic bike racks in the downtown area as part of its on-going effort to encourage more non-motorized traffic. The city expects to put in the bike racks in March or April. Each rack will be able to hold a handful of bikes and will be decorative and artistically unique. City officials are still determining where to put the new racks and what they will look like. Cost of the project is estimated at a few thousand dollars.

In Detroit

The City of Detroit is making some streetscape improvements downtown which are mostly covered by a Transportation Enhancements grant through MDOT. Some of those improvements include bike racks. The streets to be improved are Park Street, from Woodward to Adams Streets; Witherell, from Woodward to Adams; Adams, from Park to Witherell, Grand River Avenue, from Washington Boulevard to Broadway Avenue; and Clifford/John R., from Washington Boulevard to Broadway Avenue. (more…)

MDOT recently announced their most recent Transporation Enhancement (TE) grants. TE money comes from the federal government and it requires a local matching from the grant recipient. TE grants are a major funding source for on-road and trail development.

In conjunction to the announcement, Governor Granholm added, “Michigan’s trails are gateways to recreation and tourism opportunities that grow our economy by attracting residents and visitors alike. Not only do they provide transportation and recreation options, but they make many areas of our state more livable and desirable places to do business.” (more…)