The Hub of Detroit bike giveaway

Congratulations to the Hub and all their volunteers for giving away 123 kids bicycles! They expect to have another bike giveaway in the future and there’s an opportunity to help.

If you have a youth bike in your basement that isn’t being used anymore, bring it to us so we can help it find a good home. The best times to drop off donations are during our volunteer nights (Wednesdays and Thursday 6pm-8pm). Bring them to our Back Alley Bikes entrance (first alley West of Cass on MLK).

Moving a piano by bike

The Metro Times has an article on the Joybox Express, a band that is traveling across Michigan on bicycle with a piano.

There’s something beautifully old-fashioned about the Joybox Express — it’s more 1910 than 2010. Yet the joy of shaking it to a Jelly Roll Morton stomper — or, hell, the bliss of riding down a country road on a bike — will never be outdated. And let’s face it: A band of bicycling minstrels is pretty awesome. Guitarist Brian Delaney says, “When bicyclists go by, they usually pump their chests or stick their fists up in the air in approval.”

The band is biking to Detroit along Warren Avenue on Tuesday for a show at Cliff Bell’s that evening. They’ll be at the Scarab Club for a show on Wednesday.

Gushing Oil, New Habits

John McCormick is a columnist for Autos Consumer. His recent column in the Detroit News, Gushing oil must finally create some new habits, asks the question, “What does the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico mean to you as an automotive consumer?”

And his answer is soaked in realism.

There are plenty of voices arguing that although this spill was accidental, it’s fair to say that Americans’ greed for oil is at least partly to blame…

But as Jason Henderson, a San Francisco State University geography professor, has suggested, there is now a moral imperative for U.S. consumers to do something meaningful about their fuel consumption habits. In a recently published statement, Henderson argues that the hazards of deepwater oil drilling are too great to continue and that ‘far-off miracles’ in hydrogen, wind, solar or nuclear power will not meet the country’s immediate energy demands.

Instead, Henderson proposes that we, American drivers, reduce our daily gasoline usage by 20 percent.

We agree.

And we also like McCormick’s suggestion that “there are strong arguments for greater use of public transport, more investment in high-speed rail systems and even more prosaic solutions, such as bicycle lanes to encourage Americans to use two wheels rather than four.”

Bike lanes are a prosaic solution? Okay, compared with hydrogen fuel cell magic, bike lanes themselves are a little ordinary and dull, but biking in them? Not always prosaic — especially if you’re pulling a piano.

U.S. Bicycle Routes planned for Michigan

The Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood has posted this on his blog yesterday:

If you’re traveling by car or airplane this 4th of July weekend and would rather be packing your luggage onto your bike, you may be interested in the US Bicycle Route System.

Well that’s got my attention, Mr. Secretary.

You’ve probably heard me compare where our high-speed and intercity passenger rail system is today with where America stood 54 years ago when President Eisenhower began implementing the US Interstate Highway network. But America also has a national interstate network of bicycle routes in a similar state of initial development.

For more than 20 years, not much happened. But in 2003, AASHTO revived the USBRS with a Task Force on US Bicycle Routes. The Task Force includes state transportation agency staff, Federal Highway Administration employees, and bicycling organizations. One group, Adventure Cycling Association, began providing staff support to the project in 2005 and developed a map called the National Corridor Plan.

As a side note, the original national corridor plan had no routes to Detroit. MTGA worked with Adventure Cycling to remedy that by modifying some existing routes and adding new ones. The result? The plans for Bicycle Routes 25, 30, and 36 now run through Detroit.

Beyond Detroit, Michiganders need to thank Scott Anderson, MTGA, and MDOT for really pushing hard to get U.S. Bicycle Route 20 across the mitten. Despite the heavy competition from other states, this might be the first new U.S. Bicycle Route in decades.

In Michigan USBRS 20 is underway, with USBRS 35 soon to follow. The people of Michigan are excited to be leading the way on America’s interstate bikeway system.

As Scott Anderson, state coordinator for the bicycle route, said, “We went county to county, community to community, to talk with each one and got enormous support. We even had cities and towns that weren’t on the route pushing to get included.”

Anderson and Michigan’s communities also see the business and employment possibilities the USBRS offers: “We see an economic opportunity here. We’re hoping to promote tourism and there are a lot of bicycle tourists out there.”

And the Secretary wraps up his blog saying:

The USBRS will generate economic activity, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and promote a healthier America. And because bicycle infrastructure is relatively inexpensive, the USBRS can achieve these benefits cost-effectively. It’s a win for states, a win for local communities, and a win for America.

Have a great July 4th weekend.

Dave Hurst started the conversation on his blog about Congressman and Michigan gubernatorial candidate Pete Hoekstra and his patriotic bike logo.

Hoekstra has a history of successfully campaigning by bicycle, as his web site notes:

Pete being an avid biker decided when he first ran for Congress in 1992 that he would ride his bicycle throughout the entire 2nd Congressional District in an effort to connect with people where they lived and worked. Many supporters joined Pete on this initial bike tour and since then Pete has made a tradition of riding his bike through the district every summer, and many more have joined this tradition. In recent years, for instance, the bike tour has highlighted issues such as agriculture, alternative energy and growing small businesses. By biking from location to location Pete has been able to visit with people, schools, farms and businesses – hearing their voices and seeing the real impact local, state and federal government has on peoples daily lives.

And in his current run for Michigan governor, he’s back in the saddle. He’s been biking around the state, including places such as Hines Drive.

We didn’t see any rides in the city of Detroit, so we submitted one his Suggest a Route form. We suggested riding on Woodward from the Detroit Zoo to the Detroit RiverWalk. It’s just twelve miles and slightly downhill.

It just seems that any avid biker running for governor of Michigan should take a ride down M1 to get a better idea of the urban issues facing this state.

The title of this post is a quote from one of the BikeIt cyclists who rode from New York to Detroit for the U.S. Social Forums.

The U.S. Social Forum really put large, diverse group of bicyclists (and pedestrians) on Detroit’s streets for nearly a week. Is this how Detroit could look in the new future after a bit of transportation mode shift and infill?

Another Forum visitor added this excellent write up on Streetsblog: Detroit: The Return of the Repressed (Bicycling Culture). That article includes a photo caption which notes, “Detroit’s once bustling streets are a bicyclist’s paradise now, wide open and empty.”

The author also participated in our monthly Critical Mass ride.

Detroit has had a small-ish Critical Mass going back some years, but this was its biggest ever, about 375 riders. A great route was planned and most followed, which took us downtown, along the riverfront, out into eastern Detroit, through the remarkable Heidelberg Project, and finally back into the center of the City. One of the best parts of this Detroit Critical Mass was the enthusiastic reception by locals all along the way.

Detroit is a city reinventing itself. After a generation of abandonment by business and capital, the residents who have stayed are fully engaged in a process of rethinking what their city should look like, who should have the power to make decisions about it, what kinds of work should be done, and so on. The bicycle is making a comeback too, and though it’s still at the beginning of a regenerative process, the roots are well implanted and it’s very exciting to see what develops in the years to come.

Matt Dughi made this amazing, must watch video of the ride. Critical Mass is looking a little Tour de Troit-ish. Did you see Pingree smile as the ride passed?

Corktown/Mexicantown Greenlink

The Greater Corktown Development Corporation spearheaded this Greenlink plan that would make Detroit’s Corktown and Mexicantown neighborhoods some of the most bike friendly places in Michigan. Among other bike facilities, the plans include about 20 miles of bike lanes. The Tour-de-Troit has been raising money for this project for some time as well.

However, the Greater Corktown Development Corporation has suffered financial issues as reported by Crain’s Detroit Business, but the project is moving forward.

To continue work on the Corktown-Mexicantown Greenlink project to connect those communities to Detroit’s west riverfront, Greater Corktown has secured an agreement from Southwest Detroit Business Association to serve as the new fiduciary for the greenlink, a project it’s worked on for over five years.

SDBA is working with Greater Corktown, the Michigan Department of Transportation and the Community Foundation of Southeast Michigan to combine as one project the greenlink, the Southwest Detroit/East Dearborn Greenway it’s been shepherding, and other walkway and bike path work the city has planned for west Vernor, said Kathleen Wendler, president of the business association.

“I like to think of it as SDBA adopting the infant we took care of for some time but are currently unable to raise,” said Kavanaugh, a freelance writer and co-owner of Wheelhouse Detroit Bike Shop.

Yesterday at Councilmember Ken Cockrel’s Green Task Force, Detroit Traffic Engineering said they still hope this project can begin by the end of this construction season. Detroit’s W. Vernor project (from Waterman to Lansing Street) is expected to be done this year — which also includes bike lanes and improvements to that unlit (and nearly unpaved!) railroad underpass west of Livernois.

Once these three projects are completed, there will be bike lanes all along W. Vernor. This will greatly improve access to the amazing restaurants and bakeries in Southwest Detroit — an unbeatable fueling station for cyclists.

Villages CDC Planning & Bike Ambassadors

Model D is reporting on a recent grant awarded to the Villages CDC which include non-motorized planning.

The Villages CDC has been awarded $215,000 from the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan for greenways and bike lane planning and design. The money will also be used for community outreach and construction documents. Villages board member Kim Clayson hopes to complete this pre-development phase by February of next year.

While details are yet to be worked out, The Villages hopes to link its community up with other existing and planned greenways in Detroit, including the Dequindre Cut, Detroit RiverWalk and Conner Creek Greenway. Partners will include the Detroit Eastside Community Collaborative, Detroit RiverFront Conservancy, Creekside CDC, Jefferson East Business Association and Gleaners, since the agency is preliminarily planning a connection from its food bank to the Riverwalk.

Regarding the Gleaner’s Food Bank, they too received a grant for a feasibility study. That study will look at converting the abandoned railroad east of Beaufait into a trail. That railroad property runs from the Uniroyal site on the Detroit River (just west of the bridge) to Gratiot. This potential trail would also connect with the Capuchin Soup Kitchen and their Earthworks Farm.

The Villages CDC grant is also funding the development of a bike ambassador strategy for Detroit. The Active Transportation Alliance out of Chicago will be working with local stakeholders to develop this strategy based upon their successful program in Chicago: Mayor Daley’s Bicycling Ambassadors.

Mayor Daley’s Bicycling Ambassadors work toward the following objectives:

• to increase the number of trips made by bicycle
• to reduce the number of bicycle-related injuries
• to help all users – bike riders, motorists, and pedestrians – better share roads and off-street trails.

To accomplish these goals, the Ambassadors appear at events throughout Chicago to reach as many Chicagoans as possible with bicycle safety education. Ambassadors talk face-to-face with Chicagoans and give presentations to kids, teens, and adults by participating in community events.

There are also Junior Ambassadors who “work with the Bicycling Ambassadors to deliver bicycle safety messages to their peers.”

There would certainly be many benefits having a similar program in Detroit, and thankfully the Villages CDC and the Community Foundation are planting that seed.