Both Crain’s and the Detroit News are reporting on the Michigan Climate Action Plan.

According to the News:

The report by the Center for Climate Strategies said a plan devised last year for battling global warming in Michigan would help limit the state’s heat-trapping gas emissions over the next 15 years.

But more than the environment would benefit, the nonprofit group said. It projected gains of 129,000 jobs, a $25 billion uptick in the gross state product and lower prices for home energy sources such as electricity, oil and natural gas.

“This study validates our commitment to energy efficiency and renewable sources of fuel,” said Steven Chester, director of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. “It’s the right thing to do for a healthy environment and a healthy economy.”

So what does this report say about biking?

It actually says quite a bit as shown below — but of course it’s easy to make recommendations. Getting MDOT, SEMCOG, county road commissions, local governments, and others to adopt the implementation mechanisms to reduce green house gas emissions is the herculean task. (more…)

If you’ve been a bike advocate in Metro Detroit for any period of time, you’re used to hearing the word “No”.

Currently most area road agencies don’t want to accommodate bikes on roads. They will spend a great deal of time reciting a litany of reasons why they can’t. The excuses vary from very valid to absolutely absurd.

Here are a couple implied but often unspoken excuses and some easy responses.

Excuse: Roads are for cars.

Bicycles were using roads before cars were invented.

And even so, the Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood very recently wrote this on his blog:

We need roadways designed to account for the needs of everyone who uses them, whether driving, walking, or riding in a wheelchair or on a bicycle.

The great thing about this Complete Streets approach to road planning is that it’s actually cheaper to plan for multiple road uses ahead of time than to retrofit roadways after they are built and someone gets injured or killed.

More information on Michigan Complete Streets efforts are on-line as well.

Excuse: Motorists pay for the roads. We’ll accommodate bicyclists when they start paying.

Motorists don’t pay for the all of the roads. A recent nationwide study found that as of 2007, road user fees only covered 51% of the road costs. The remainder is paid by taxpayers, which includes bicyclists.

And this only covers road costs and not the external costs or costs absorbed by consumers — a topic we covered earlier.

We recently wrote about W.K. Kellogg’s early bicycling advocacy efforts including his lifetime membership in the League of American Wheelmen.

Those efforts have continued through the Kellogg Foundation which has invested in trails throughout Michigan.

Here’s more good news as of last Monday.

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Mt. Pleasant is a little outside of m-bike’s geographic range, but this recent editorial in the Morning Sun really speaks to an issue we face in Metro Detroit.

MDOT, instead of looking back at its storied past and pulling solutions out of the 1950s, needs to look to the future. The future is something called a complete street – with places for pedestrians and bicycles as well as motor vehicles.

Instead of cranking up the speed, a complete street calms the traffic. Instead of forcing people to zap across multiple lanes of traffic to make turning movements, it allows them to flow naturally.

It’s an unconventional solution, but it works. It’s not surprising that MDOT has been reluctant to propose an unconventional answer, because unconventional ideas don’t seem to go over real well in Michigan.

In Metro Detroit the issue has been less with MDOT and more with cities and road commissions, such as the Road Commission for Oakland County. They give vehicle mobility a higher priority than safe bicycling and walking.

But the Michigan Complete Streets movement is starting to take hold. Cities like Lansing and Flint are leading the way.

We certainly could use more Complete Streets editorials like the Morning Sun’s.

Here’s some breaking news from Rory Neuner from the Michigan Environmental Council and a League of Michigan Bicyclists director:

The Lansing City Council voted unanimously tonight (Monday) to adopt a Complete Streets / Non-Motorized Plan ordinance. We’re thrilled!

What does this mean?

There’s more information on this ordinance and how the Lansing Walking & Bicycling Task Force got to this milestone on their web site. But in summary, this ordinance:

1. Requires the City of Lansing to adopt a Non- Motorized Network Plan.
2. The Non-Motorized Network Plan would include, at a minimum, accommodations for accessibility, sidewalks, curb ramps and cuts, trails and pathways, signage, and bike lanes, and shall incorporate the principles of Complete Streets and maximize walkable and bikeable streets within the City.
3. To the extent financially feasible, future construction or reconstruction of City rights-of- way or any parts thereof shall be in conformity with the Non-Motorized Network Plan.
4. Encourage adequate funding for the plan.
5. Require an update of the Non-Motorized Network Plan every five years from the date of adoption.

Passing an ordinance up front is a slightly different route than what was taken in Royal Oak and Troy, but definitely works.

And perhaps the biggest benefit to what Lansing has achieved is the funding. Making plans is easy. It’s a major challenge finding the money to implement them, especially in these economic times.

Under current Michigan law (called Act 51), a minimum of 1% of the state road funds each city, village, and county receive must be spent on non-motorized facilities like bike lanes and sidewalks. Some follow this law and some don’t, but that’s a whole other topic.

The city of Lansing currently spends 2% to 3% for non-motorized facilities. Under this ordinance that  is raised to 5%.

Congratulations, Lansing!