Portland, Oregon recently created a proposed bicycle plan.

One highlight of that plan is a supplement on Bicycle Design Best Practices, where they have compiled a very comprehensive and up-to-date collection of bicycle facilities. Some of the newer facilities (newer to the U.S. at least) include bicycle boulevards and separated bike lanes (a.k.a. cycle tracks.)

This report documents an extensive review of best practices from world‐class bicycling cities where the most innovative technology advances in designing for bicycle traffic have been proven effective. The purpose of the report is to create a guide for traffic engineers, designers and planners detailing tried and‐ tested bicycle facility designs along with essential considerations for their implementation.

Note that there are no side paths or “safety” paths shown in their best practices guide.

And while speaking of Portland, the Census Bureau recently released 2008 American Community Survey data. This data includes statistics on how people get to work. Portland not only leads the U.S. in this people biking to work, they are reporting a record increase.

Portland experienced the largest one-year increase in bicycling as commuters primary mode of transportation ever, according to the Census Bureau’s annual American Community Survey.

“Our small investment in bicycling infrastructure and education are paying off in a big way,” Mayor Sam Adams said. “Once again the data backs up our belief that when Portlanders are given a safe, convenient alternative to driving they will get out of their car and onto a bike.” Adams has been in charge of the Portland Bureau of Transportation since 2004.

The data released Monday showed 6.4 percent responded to the survey that they bicycled to work in 2008. This makes Portland number one in bicycle commuting among the 30 largest cities in the country. The percentage of walkers and transit users also rose.

The city of Detroit and Metro Detroit bike commuting numbers were fairly flat. This is surprising given the greater number of bicyclists on the roads (though they may not all be riding to work.) Or they are biking to work and using transit, in which case it’s unclear how they would have responded to this census survey.

That said, there was a decrease in car use which appears to have shifted to transit.

As we mentioned earlier, the DNR is renaming Tri-Centennial State Park on the Detroit RiverWalk to the William G. Milliken State Park.

Given the Governor’s background in conservation, this it certainly fitting. This background is highlighted in the name change resolution (see below) that was passed by the Natural Resources Commission last month.

Another conservationist will also be honored at the park. The Stroh family contributed funding in honor of the late Peter Stroh to help make this park possible. As the N.Y. Times reported, “Mr. Stroh was a founding board member of Conservation International and served on the boards of the Nature Conservancy, the National Audubon Society and the Atlantic Salmon Federation.”

Speaking of the park, the big question is when will this new section be open? The last we checked, portions of the bike path have been paved but more landscaping needs to be completed. The weather is really the determining factor on when the project will be done. The contract specifies a November completion and the DNR is still hoping for the end of this month. However, the rain and cold weather aren’t helping.

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It’s not everyday you see a car parked in the new Dequindre Cut.

But it was legit.

There were three artists adding graffiti. By the end of the day, their work was complete.

Model D has an article discussing this trail enhancement project.

Acting as project curators, CAID director Aaron Timlin and curator of graffiti art Tom Stoye selected four artists to create original murals along the Cut. Three writers — MALT, PHERS and TEAD — have completed murals on one wall near the Gratiot portion of the Cut, with an additional piece by GAME to be created in the same area this coming weekend.

According to the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy, other non-commissioned grafitti continues to be added in other parts of the Cut.

We should also note that the sidewalk improvements from the Dequindre Cut to Eastern Market along Gratiot Avenue appear to be nearly complete. This is a major improvement.

In 1898, the League of American Wheelmen (LAW) Michigan Division secured a $10,000 appropriation from the city of Detroit. The money was to build a bicycle pavilion on Belle Isle.

They followed up with another $2,500 the following year to “furnish up bicycle pavilion with pump, repair outfit, racks, and other conveniences” according to Edward Hines.

During this time, the mayor of Detroit was William Maybury. The Mayor was presumably a bicyclist since he was a member of the LAW. A statue of Maybury is in Grand Circus Park, sitting in a chair opposite of Mayor/Governor Hazen Pingree.

Just prior to this pavilion being constructed, a New York park agency inquired about how Detroit handles bike parking and bike rentals. Detroit park commission secretary and manager M. P. Hurlbut explained that there was a small (less than 1,000 square feet) pavilion that was bid out to companies renting bikes on Belle Isle. The winning bid was $1,000.

Hurlbut then explained the purpose of the larger planned pavilion:

It is to be a two-story building and the first or ground floor ‘will be used by bicycle riders in case of stormy weather to store their wheels in, and undoubtedly some time in the future there will be a privilege for renting bicycles leased from this building, and possibly a temporary repair shop.

“Wheels” is another term for bicycles.

110 years after being built, the pavilion still stands on Belle Isle, though it is now called the Athletic Pavilion. It is between the now-closed zoo, athletic fields, and tennis courts in the center of the island. From the outside, it seemed to be in decent shape.

The size and grandness of this pavilion is a testament to the strength and importance of bicyclists in the city of Detroit in the late 1890s.

Here’s a piece of Detroit cycling history: A membership plea from Edward Hines that was published May 11th 1899 in the League of American Wheelmen Bulletin.

Here are 20 arguments why you should belong to the Michigan Division LAW. If you are a member read them over carefully and then present them to your friends urging them to join our ranks. Also send in your renewal promptly. If you are not a member read them over and be convinced that you should be a member and then forward us your application.

1. Drafted introduced and passed the Anderson Bicycle Baggage Bill compelling the railroads of Michigan to carry bicycles as personal baggage free of charge (1897)
2. Defeated the passage of a special tax of $1 a year on wheelmen in 1897
3. Issued a road book in 1897 and 1898
4. Secured a Supreme Court decision against the toll-road corporations, prohibiting them from charging wheelmen toll
5. Put an active and wide awake wheelman on the Park Board in Detroit
6. Secured the passage of an anti glass and tack law in Detroit
7. Secured the passage of a most liberal bicycle ordinance for Detroit – no lamps, no bells, 12 miles an hour speed limit, keep to the right for all vehicles, no riding hands off, no riding more than three abreast, and sidewalk riding permitted on unpaved streets
8. Prosecuted 23 “road hogs” in 1898 winning every case
9. Secured a more severe punishment for bicycle thieves
10. Secured an appropriation of $10,000 from the city of Detroit to build a bicycle pavilion for wheelmen on Belle Isle in 1898
11. Secured an additional appropriation of $2,500 to furnish up bicycle pavilion with pump repair outfit racks and other conveniences for wheelmen in 1899
12. Drafted and secured the passage through the state legislature in 1899, a bill to protect cycle paths and to provide for punishment of violations
13. Encompassed the defeat of a bill before the present legislature to prohibit wheelmen using sidewalks under all circumstances in all parts of the state
14. Secured a dry strip of five feet in width on all the principal sprinkled streets in Detroit
15. Arranged with the Board of Public Works in Detroit to remove glass or other hurtful substances, likely to damage bicycles or bicycle tires immediately upon notification
16. Secured the passage of some good roads amendments before the present session of the state legislature – not all we hope to secure in the way of a good roads bill, but an entering wedge
17. Have kept up a constant agitation for good roads is gradually bearing fruit
18. Have secured the repeal of a dozen local ordinances in various parts of the state which worked a hardship upon wheelmen
19. Has made cycle path building possible in Michigan
20. Maintains a sharp lookout on all legislative matters the rights and privileges of wheelmen and creates and stimulates wheeling enthusiasm

Now when you have read the above through carefully yourself the question. Don’t I as a wheelman get $1 a benefit through the LAW whether if ride much or little. Are you not willing to lend a helping hand to help us carry our future plans. We want more cycle paths, we want roads, we want danger signs erected, we want guide erected, we want to be fully protected at all times with our bicycle, we want our rights and privileges maintained, and can get what we want by joining the LAW, sticking to LAW, and getting our friends in the LAW. We spent all of our money to secure benefits and privileges for wheelmen and to have our various wants taken care of we must have the financial and numerical support of the wheelmen of our state. It isn’t enough that you should merely belong you should do something occasionally for the wheelmen’s cause and the time to start is now. I again say read the above over carefully then hand this to a friend get his application and have him pass it along to a friend of his.

Edward N Hines, Chief Consul
League of American Wheelmen (L.A.W.) Michigan Division

There was a bicycle pavilion on Belle Isle? There still is. We’ll post more about that soon.

Also the LAW had folded by 1924. At some point thereafter, Detroit’s “most liberal” bicycle ordinances were changed to require bicycle bells, lights, and registrations.