New Trail: Midtown Loop

The official ground breaking ceremony for the Midtown Loop is scheduled for next Thursday, April 15th.

From WLNS:

Construction starts next week on the Midtown Greenway, which will begin as a route for pedestrians and bicyclists circling through Detroit’s Cultural Center area and Wayne State University’s campus.

It’s the first part of a four-phase project that by fall 2012 is expected to link the area with Eastern Market and the Detroit riverfront. Construction crews begin work Monday and an event to mark the start is Thursday.

University Cultural Center Association President Susan Mosey said the project will widen walkways to create more room for pedestrians and bicyclists, as well as add landscaping, bike racks, benches and small park areas.

The greenway is designed make the area, which includes the Detroit Institute of Arts, more friendly to pedestrians and bicyclists.

One thing to keep in mind is that this trail is not geared towards commuters or fast cyclists. It’s a trail for a relaxed, family and touristy rides.

New Bike Shop: Downtown Ferndale Bike Shop

There’s a new bike shop opening in town and there’s a official opening celebration tomorrow, April 9th at 2pm. The shop is located at 163 W. Nine Mile in Ferndale.

Volunteers needed: I-275 Metro Trail Cleanup

From the Detroit Free Press:

Volunteers are needed Saturday for spring cleaning on the I-275 bike path just east of Meadowbrook Road.

Friends of the I-275 Pathway plan to work from 9 a.m.-noon removing litter, trimming overgrown brush and shoveling mud from the path, said communications chair John Bailey, who is a WWJ-AM (950) radio traffic reporter.

Volunteers can park in the commercial parking lot at the northeast corner of Bridge Street and Meadowbrook, on the east side of Meadowbook just south of I-96. Bring flat shovels, rakes and other tools to scrape mud off pavement, he said.

For information, call 248-994-3074 anytime.

Donations sought: Beaumont Bike Day

From My Fox Detroit:

Kids riding on bikes is a sure sign of the season. But for special needs children, riding a bike seems like just a dream. But thanks to Children’s Miracle Network , that dream can come true.

They provide funding for Bike Day at Beaumont Children’s Hospital and you can help as well since these just aren’t any bikes. They’re custom made to suit each child.

FOX 2 and Gardner-White Furniture are asking you to support bike day. Every dollar you donate goes directly to the program allowing each bike to be provded for free. Drop by any Gardner-White Furniture location to make a donation. Or log on to www.beaumonthospitals.com/donate and select ‘Bike Day’ in the drop down to donate online.

This web site has been a labor of love for some time now, but perhaps more lately. It’s been a challenge publishing so much information.

But, the results have been very encouraging. According to Google, our web visits have increased by 105% this year over last. We’ve been getting some of our articles picked up in the local and national blogosphere.

What are your thoughts on making this site better or more effective?

This site was originally created to fill a void in Southeast Michigan in terms of bicycle advocacy — a void that unfortunately remains after our unsuccessful attempt to improve our local bike advocacy.

And with the exception of a handful of local communities, Southeast Michigan has become less bicycle friendly through the years — unless you’re lucky enough to be on a trail. Bicycling has received lip service and maps, but not much in terms of leadership and funding that could make some real changes on the ground. A lot of people, including cyclists seem quite satisfied with the status quo.

Vehicle mobility continues to trump the safety of all roads users. As a result, best practices and AASHTO guidelines for safe bicycling facilities are routinely ignored.

The bright spots for bicycling progress in the Tri-county region are Detroit, Troy, Royal Oak and Novi. The latter three have or are about to begin non-motorized transportation planning with qualified planners. Of course Ferndale has been a leader in the past as well. Is this enough of a critical mass to get other communities and the county to do the same? What will be the implementation timeline?

And 2010 should see Detroit emerge as the clear non-motorized transportation leader within the three counties. But, for the time being, Oakland and Macomb have a firm grip as the two worst counties for bicycling in Michigan and we don’t see that changing.

The excuse of not having money to make your community more bike friendly just got a whole lot weaker thanks to Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grants (EECBG).

This funding is another a portion of the overall economic stimulus package and it can fund bicycling planning, construction, and programming:

Entities may develop and implement programs to conserve energy used in transportation, including but not limited to:

• Development of infrastructure such as bike lanes and pathways and pedestrian walkways;
• State/locals/regional integrated planning activities (i.e. transportation, housing, environmental, energy,land use) with the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and vehicle miles traveled;
• Incentive programs to reduce commutes by single occupancy vehicles;

Nearly $58 million will go to Michigan cities, townships, and counties that already receive block grant funding (see list below.) A minimum of just over $11 million will be awarded competitively among Michigan’s other communities.

The application deadline is June 25th, 2009. Any awarded funds must be obligated within 18 months.

Royal Oak, Novi and Detroit

Both of these cities are applying for EECBG funding to develop non-motorized transportation master plans. These plans would help both cities develop a strategy for making their cities more walkable and bikeable. (Troy is current going through this plannng.)

Detroit already has a non-motorized transportation plan, so we will be encouraging them so spend a portion of this funding on implementing the plan.

What Can You Do?

We are encouraging all cyclists to contact their local government and ask that they apply for EECBG funding to make their community more bike friendly.

If your city doesn’t have a non-motorized transportation plan (and nearly all don’t in Metro Detroit), EECBG funding can pay for one. This is a good starting point for cities looking to become more bike friendly. For cities like Royal Oak and Novi, these plans costs between $40K and $50K

As mentioned, some cities are automatically eligible for a specific amount of funding. Here’s a listing for eligible cities in Oakland, Macomb, and Wayne County. For a complete listing, visit Michigan’s Recovery web site.

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Transportation Enhancements

There was concern as to whether some of the stimulus transportation money would go towards Transportation Enhancements. Enhancements grants often fund bike or trail projects in Michigan.

In the original House version of the stimulus bill, 4.5% of the highway funds went to enhancements. The Senate bill had 0%. The fear was it would remain at zero since the compromise bill was based on the Senate version.

The good news is the final bill specifies 3% for enhancements, or $825 million in total. It’s uncertain how much Michigan will receive.

Other Funding

But there’s “other possible funding sources for bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure” than just transportation funds according to the Bikes Belong Coalition:

• States will be receiving $53.6 billion in state fiscal stabilization funding. States must use 18.2% of their funding – or $9.7 billion – for public safety and government services. An eligible activity under this section is to provide funding to K-12 schools and institutions of higher education to make repairs, modernize, and renovate to meet green building standards. LEED’s green standards for schools include bicycle and pedestrian facilities and access to the school.
• $3.1 billion is provided for the Energy Efficiency and Block Grant Program, which provides formula funding to cities, counties, and states to undertake a range of energy efficiency activities. One eligible use of funding is for bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure.
• And a total of $1 billion is included for a Prevention and Wellness fund at the US Department of Health and Human Services. However, specific funding for the Healthy Communities program, which provides funding to local communities to pursue community wellness activities address critical problems like obesity, was not included.

Project List

It’s also uncertain what projects this money will fund. According to the Lansing State Journal, Governor Granholm will list the potential projects in the “very near future” after President Obama signs the bill.

I-275 Bikepath Funding

Also, we had questions about both MDOT and the City of Novi having the I-275 bikepath on their economic stimulus wish list. We’re told Novi added it to show the city’s support for the project and to bring in the funding in case MDOT didn’t.

The differing House and Senate versions of the stimulus bill were resolved yesterday. It’s expected that the new bill will be voted on today and signed by the President on Monday.

This final bill allocates $29 billion in transportation funding. That’s about how much the federal government allocates during a normal year. How much of that goes to Michigan and how much could be spent on non-motorized facilities is apparently unknown as of now.

We do know that the MDOT Metro Region put reconstruction of the entire I-275 bikepath on their stimulus project list. How huge would that be?

The Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance and other advocates have been working with the City of Detroit to get non-motorized projects in the city’s stimulus list. Dan Cherrin, Mayor Cockrel’s spokesman told the the Michigan Messenger that the city wants to see “bike paths” built with stimulus money. Bike paths could include many of Detroit’s greenway projects as well as the non-motorized plan’s 400-mile bike lane network.

There are also other local bike and trail related projects in the stimulus wish list compiled by the Michigan Municipal League:

• Birmingham – Completion of a renovation of partially existing trail network, $2 million
• Canton – Construction of five pedestrian bridges over the Rouge River providing interconnection of community pathway, $700,000
• Madison Heights – Red Oaks Bikepath, $600,000
• Novi – Improvement of I-275 non-motorized pathway from I696 to Wayne Co, $ 467,000
• Novi – New bike path along M-5 from south of 12 Mile Rd to Pontiac Trail, $ 1,250,000
• Rochester – Paint Creek Trail, $ 300,000
• Royal Oak – Non-Motorized Tranportation Plan, $40,000

What’s not clear is how Novi’s two requests fit with MDOT’s for the I-275 bikepath.

We should know more about what gets funded as this process continues to lumber along.