Overlooking the Phase II expansion from the large grassy mound at Tri-Centennial State Park

Tri-Centennial State Park on the Detroit River is all set to expand and connect with the Riverwalk’s Rivard Plaza.  This much awaited expansion means the Detroit Riverwalk will be longer and will provide a trail connection to the Dequindre Cut.

The State Park expansion will actually have two parallel paths: one for walking and the other for biking.  This should help reduce trail bottlenecks that are often seen on the Riverwalk between the Rivard Plaza and Joe Louis Arena.

The DNR is striving for a softer trail design.  In other words, there will be more natural features and less man-made.  There will also be more interpretive and educational opportunities along this trail.

And as anyone who’s been on this property knows, it’s popular with fishermen.  The DNR plans to accomodate them as well after construction is completed. (more…)

On Monday, September 8th at 11:15 AM, the Detroit City Council’s Public Health and Safety Committee will be discussing the Detroit Non-Motorized Transportation Master Plan.  This plan has never been brought before City Council for their approval — a necessary step before groups like MDOT will recognize and help implement the plan.

When: September 8th at 11:15 AM
Where: City Council, 13th floor of the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center, Jefferson at Woodward

So what does this plan do? As we noted earlier, this plan takes inventory of the many cycling destinations across Detroit, including parks, schools, cultural centers, recreational centers, etc. It looks at how to best connect them with a network of on- and off-road bike facilities — trails, bike lanes and shared signed routes. The plan calls for nearly 400 miles of bikes lanes across the City of Detroit that could be implemented during normal road maintenance by simply re-striping existing roads.

The authors of the plan, Giffels-Webster will be there to give a presentation on it.  Detroit’s Traffic Engineering Division, the city department that is ultimately responsible for implementing this plan will be at the meeting as well.

We need public comment from cyclists, walkers, and other residents to voice their support for this plan!

Note that current changes in city government may affect this meeting time, causing it to be delayed or changed.  If you want to be certain the meeting is still on as scheduled, call the Office of the City Clerk at 313.224.3266.

We hope to see you there.

Perhaps you read in Model D recently about Terry Paris Jr’s experiment: Detroit, One Man, One Month, No Car.

I spoke with Terry afterward and he really seemed to enjoy biking more.  However, bad luck did strike him at the end.

And, as a nice little topper-off for this whole thing, on the last day of the experiment my bike was stolen in broad daylight outside a bar in Hamtramck – lock and all.

Terry also wrote a companion article listing ways to improve local public transit and biking options.

Bike racks on DDOT buses would also improve DDOT riders, too.

Oh, and bike lanes along major streets.

“A greater number of people would ride their bikes if the city had lanes,” says Todd Scott, Detroit Greenways coordinator. (It’s Detroit Greeways’ goal to get 400 miles of non-motorized lanes in Detroit.) “Bike lanes make the person feel a lot safer and makes the cars more aware. This would be a great city for bike lanes.”

Fortunately for Terry and the rest of us, DDOT bus bike racks and Detroit bike lanes are moving closer to reality.

Okay, so this USA Weekend article is Photoshopped. Detroit was not listed.

Still it could be listed in the future.

A stunning network of trails and greenways is being developed. There is a plan for 400 miles of bike lanes.

And because Detroit is under one government, it’s going to be much easier to implement consistent city-wide biking plans compared with nearby counties. In the counties, bike advocates need to convince many individual city, village, and township governments to get on board, which is no small task.

Last Thursday was another monthly Green Tea event, this time promoting biking in Detroit. It was a great success with a very large and diverse turnout.

Wheelhouse Bike Tours

The Tea began with an introduction from our hosts Kelli and Karen from the Wheelhouse Detroit bike shop on the Detroit Riverwalk. The shop specializes in rentals, service, accessories, and bike tours. They have a freebie Wednesday night ride (9 PM). Now the are offering guided Neighborhood Tours, some of which include lunch. And of course you can rent a Wheelhouse bike as well. Check out the Wheelhouse web site for further details.

400 Miles of Bike Lanes

Next, I spoke to the group about Detroit greenways and the Non-Motorized Transportation Master Plan. The latter was developed by Giffels-Webster and was funded by MDOT. The plan inventoried the many cycling destinations across Detroit, including parks, schools, cultural centers, recreational centers, etc. It looked at how to best connect them with a network of on-road bike facilities — bike lanes and shared signed routes.

In summary, the plan calls for nearly 400 miles of bikes lanes across the City of Detroit that could be implemented during normal road maintenance by simply re-striping existing roads. [Additional details regarding this plan will be posted to m-bike in the upcoming week.]

And while this plan was accepted by Detroit’s Traffic Engineering Division, it had not gone before City Council. The GreenWays Initiative and MTGA worked to change that. Last month Giffels-Webster gave a presentation of the plan to Council President Ken Cockrel’s Green Task Force. We discussed the plan with other City Council members and distributed the copies of it.

On September 8th, City Council will have a discussion of this non-motorized plan. We need pedestrians and cyclists to attend and voice their support during the public comment period. The Council is meeting on the 13th floor of the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center on September 8th at 11:15AM.

Biking to Eastern Market

Next, the group hopped on their bikes and rode from the Wheelhouse to Eastern Market. We were greeted at Shed 2 by Market President Dan Carmody and a box of healthy snacks. We discussed how to make Detroit more bike friendly and how the Dequindre Cut trail will be an excellent connection between the Riverwalk and the Market.

Special thanks to Kathryn Underwood and others for helping make this Green Tea a big success.