The Free Press special report Living with murder: Complete coverage contains some positive coverage of Detroit residents building community. One story highlights bicycling’s role in the community fabric.

The brothers have lived for 40 years in a run-down house on the corner of Bessemore and Georgia. They’re members of The East Side Riders, a custom-bicycle club that gathers for casual rides. They hold workshops for neighborhood kids to show them simple things such as how to change a flat tire, to more difficult tasks such as customizing — or tricking out — their bikes. What started as fun has become a crime-fighting tool.

When the bodies of women were being found scattered on the east side inside abandoned houses and lots in the summer of 2009, the brothers rode around, handing out flyers and warning women not to walk alone. On Angels’ Night, the eve before Halloween, they’ve patrolled the neighborhood. They even ride along with children as they walk to and from school.

“We just want to keep it safe where we live,” said David Jarrell, 47.

This article also shows the great value places like the Hub of Detroit bring to the community. It’s great that we can find millions to build walking and biking facilities, but it’s challenging to find those same kinds of dollars for this bicycling support network. Both need to be supported if we’re to be successful in getting more Detroiters choosing bicycles.

Sharrows on Gratiot and Fort Street

Recently the East Side Riders asked for bike lanes on Gratiot, a route they often ride to get Downtown and to the RiverWalk. That request was passed along to MDOT. Years ago MDOT had discussed adding bike lanes to Gratiot but that would have removed the on-street parking – a non-starter for the city.

Now MDOT is looking to simply add sharrows, shared lane markings that remind motorists to share the road while providing guidance to cyclists on where to position themselves on the road. MDOT hopes to have them installed next year from Conner Avenue/Conner Creek Greenway to the Dequindre Cut. These may be a forerunner to some eventual bike lanes.

We recently spoke with Tim Springer from Springer Consulting in Minneapolis. He visited Detroit to share his experience with their Midtown Greenway and look at opportunities in Detroit.

One of his thoughts was to add separated two-way cyclepaths to our major spoke roads such as Gratiot and Grand River. Yes, it would take away some vehicle travel lanes, but those roads have extra capacity. While surveys find many Detroit residents would feel comfortable riding in bike lanes on major roads, other cities are finding that many more would feel comfortable on physically-separated bike lanes. And as Springer noted, the spoke roads are often the fastest routes to get across the city so we should prioritize investing in them for better bicycling.

As for sharrows, MDOT is also looking to add them on Fort Street in Southwest Detroit, a route used by the Underground Railroad Bicycle Route.

Green Alley construction begins

Model D is provides a significant amount of Detroit biking coverage. Perhaps due to May being bike month, they’ve got even more stories, including this one on Midtown’s Green Alley.

This is Detroit’s first green alley, and like most all things green, it caters to cyclists.

The alley will consist of native plantings and a 6-foot-wide pedestrian and bike pathway constructed of reclaimed historic brick framed by permeable pavement — which ensures emergency vehicle access. It is lit by induction lights, which are more efficient than LED and last for 25 years. “I hope one day to be have to climb up there and change a bulb!” says Tom.

The alley will provide a connection to the Motor City Brewing Works and include bike racks.

Detroit Critical Mass

Here’s a little video of the April 2010 Critical Mass ride in Detroit. Isn’t it ironic that the Motor City’s ride deals with fewer cars than perhaps all other citys’? (via Model D)

Michigan’s Top Five Bike Trails

This is part of a story from Metro Parent magazine’s May issue. This article lists great trails that the entire family can enjoy.

Bike Tent City registration now open

The U.S. Social Forum (USSF) is coming to Detroit this June. Biking is a big part of this event. People from around the U.S. are biking to Motown through the BikeIt project. Registration for their Tent Bike City is now open.

Bike Trailer Building Workshop

On a related note, the Hub of Detroit is hosting a trailer building workshop this Saturday.

When: May 15th from 3:30pm-7pm
Where: Back Alley Bikes space (entrance in alley behind of The Hub of Detroit)
What: The goal of the evening is to use wood and recycled bicycle parts to make simple bicycle cargo trailers. The trailers built will be used to pick up waste during the forum and will be a part of environmental management efforts reduce the ecological footprint of the USSF and beyond!

If you’re interested in volunteering at the Hub, their next volunteer orientation meeting is June 2nd at 6pm.

Vote for a Detroit Bike Video

Bicycle magazine’s video contest has a Detroit-themed entry named Catalyst. Voting ends on June 6th, 2010.

Fort Street Construction in Detroit

Yes, Fort Street in Southwest Detroit is being reconstucted. Yes, the Detroit Non-Motorized Plan calls for bike lanes on this road. Yes, the road is six-lanes but the vehicular traffic levels only require two. Yes, this road would likely be part of the U.S. Bicycle Route 25 through Detroit.

No, MDOT did not include bike lanes in the project.

Why? No reasonable answers have been given so far. MTGA and others are continuing to discuss this with MDOT. There’s no reason why this shouldn’t be a four-lane road with buffered bike lanes.

The recent Cleveland protests over the Ohio Department of Transportation ignoring cycling certain echoes recent experiences with MDOT. From their Fort Street project to a Michigan Avenue repaving to the I-94 expansion, MDOT is ignoring Detroit’s non-motorized transportation master plan — a topic on the agenda for the next MDOT Metro Region non-motorized meeting in March.

But back to Cleveland, their protest has a cool video and song. Maybe that’s what we need to better get our basic message out.

We don’t need non-credible excuses or a willingness to listen. We need a consistent commitment to make Detroit a better place to walk and bike.

The Shorpy.com web site publishes some amazing photos.

One recent addition is of Fort Street in Detroit. It’s looking west from Woodward Avenue back in 1890.

Notice what’s missing in the photo besides cars and trucks? There are no signs or traffic lights or crosswalks.

At this time, there really were no rules of the road because they weren’t necessary. Road users operated at similar, slower, and safer speeds. Everyone was responsible for not crashing into others.

This type of road design is becoming more popular in Europe. It’s called shared space.

After a recent MDOT training with John LaPlante, I asked him about implementing shared space. He said it can work in America in some residential areas or downtowns. He brought up the excellent point that European drivers have a culture of sharing the road with other users like pedestrians and bicyclists. That makes it much easier for them to successfully implement shared spaces. Too often American drivers suffer from a sense of road entitlement.

Did you notice all the bikes parked in front of the now-demolished Hammond Building? This was the “Golden Age” of bicycling in Detroit.