Don’t call it downsizing or right sizing.

The planning effort to redefine and rebuild Detroit is officially called the Strategic Framework Plan.

There is an initial set of five “Community Dialogue Forums” planned around Detroit. These meetings are a opportunity for cyclists to make sure the resulting plans include biking, greenways, Complete Streets, Safe Routes to School and more.

The Framework planning team does have copies of the city’s non-motorized plan and the Detroit Greenway Vision. Still, it would be helpful for them to hear directly from residents about the important role of bicycling in Detroit’s future.

Those community meetings are:

• Tuesday, September 14, Greater Grace Temple, 23500 W. Seven Mile Road (NW)
• Thursday, September 16, American Serbian Memorial Hall, 19940 Van Dyke Street (NE)
• Saturday, September 18, Whittier Manor, 415 Burns Drive (SE)
• Tuesday, September 21, El Kiosko Banquet Hall, 7271 Dix Street (SW)
• Wednesday, September 22, Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, 315 E. Warren Avenue (Central)

Doors will open at 6 p.m. for all weekday meetings, with the meeting program from 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Doors will open at 10 a.m. for the Saturday meeting, with the meeting program from 10:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

The Free Press is reporting about a non-motorized planning proposal before the Livonia City Council this evening.

Tonight, a Livonia City Council committee will consider a proposal from [Frank] Kalinski, a city resident since 1993, to create a non-motorized transportation plan for the city.

Kalinski’s proposal includes designated biking and walking paths that would not only cross the city, but also would connect Livonia with surrounding communities such as downtown Farmington. Because it would connect the two communities and presumably add economic benefits, the plan would be in better position to help the city secure federal transportation funds, he said.

Livonia Councilwoman Maureen Miller Brosnan sees merit in the effort, and wants her city of almost 99,000 to become one of 10 communities in the state with a non-motorized transportation plan. She cited the timing of Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s signing on Aug. 1 of Complete Streets legislation. Although it lacks a funding component, the legislation is designed to make future transportation projects in the state consider all transportation users, not just motorized vehicles.

It’s unexpected but much welcomed to hear Livonia discussing a non-motorized transportation plan. This is the best first step for communities to become more bike friendly and more walkable. As noted in the article, Detroit has done this, as had Troy. Novi and Royal Oak are currently developing their plans.

It’s unclear from the article whether Livonia would hire an outside planner with experience in non-motorized plans. The “plan” shown in the Free Press diagram is not a non-motorized plan.

Hiring experienced planners would clearly be preferred. Expecting a workable plan from city staff not familiar with non-motorized planning (beyond sidewalks) is prone to fail.

And, a good non-motorized plan is more than just engineering. It should include action plans for education, encouragement, and enforcement.

Afterall, the goal is not to build a bunch of cycling facilities. It’s to get a city to bike more.

Congratulations to the city of Novi! Last night, their city council unanimously adopted a Complete Streets Resolution.

According to Novi City Councilmember Andrew Mutch:

“The resolution declares Novi’s commitment to adopting and following Complete Streets principles. It also directs City staff to develop a set of proposed standards and ordinances to implement “Complete Streets” policies and practices in the City of Novi. These efforts, in concert with the newly initiated master plan for non-motorized transportation, will enable the city to better meet the strong desire of Novi residents to live in a more walkable and bikeable city and to provide a transportation system that takes into consideration the needs of all users.”

We believe this is the first community in Oakland County to have a Complete Streets resolution or ordinance.

As for the master plan noted my Mutch, the city has hired a top-notch team. Leading the team is the Greenway Collaborative, which has a web page for more information on this planning effort, including this overview:

The City of Novi is continuing its efforts to promote healthy, active lifestyles through the creation of a comprehensive non-motorized transportation plan. The plan will result in a clear vision and implementation strategy to establish a safe, convenient and enjoyable environment for bicyclists, pedestrians and other non-motorized users. This project got underway in July and should be completed by the end of the year. The public is encouraged to participate in the creation of the plan through a web based survey available later this summer and two workshops to be held this fall.

The page does list two public meetings:

Project Visioning Workshop

This workshop will be held on Wednesday, September 29, 2010 from 7:00pm to 8:45pm in the Full Meeting Room at Novi Public Library. During this workshop participants will express there hopes and concerns and identify areas in the community where different types of non-motorized elements would fit.

Preliminary Plan Workshop

This workshop will be held on Thursday, October 26, 2010 from 7:00pm to 8:45pm in the Full Meeting Room at the Novi Public Library. During this workshop participants will prioritized and evaluated the Draft Non-motorized Network Plan.

Mark your calendars. The city of Novi is really moving forward.

Wolverine cyclist and city planner Doug Hedges recently announced that “the initial meeting for the City of Royal Oak’s Non-Motorized Transportation Plan will be held at the Planning Commission’s next meeting of Tuesday, August 10, 2010, at 7:30 p.m. ”

The meeting location is Royal Oak City Hall, room 315 (on the 3rd floor) at 211 South Williams in Downtown Royal Oak.

Here is the outline of the presentation:

Royal Oak cyclist Tom Regan sent an email with the following note:

We will help ourselves a lot if we have a very large turnout at this first meeting, to show city planning commission members that Royal Oak needs to be made safer and more inviting to cyclists and pedestrians. The city planning commission will ultimately recommend policy changes to the city commission.

If you are able please spread the word any way you can.

Keep in mind that the presentation is not the first item on the agenda, so it won’t start right at 7:30pm.

Former Red Wing Chris Chelios biking home from work on Woodward in Royal Oak

The Oakland Press has an article on the newer planning efforts to make Woodward more bike friendly.

Heather Carmona, the executive director of the Woodward Avenue Action Association, said the study is a step toward making the Woodward area more attractive to businesses and young residents, who tend to view walkability, rideability and mass transit more favorably than their older counterparts.

“The economy as a whole is forcing us to look at new ways of doing things, but this is more about making living in the Woodward area more pedestrian-friendly and livable,” she said. “We have users of all types — those who would like to walk, others who would like to ride their bikes. We’re looking at ways to make moving around without a car easier.

“Look at cities like Portland, Oregon and other cities have plans in place for non-motorized transportation,” Carmona said. “It’s one of the factors that we believe is attractive to the younger people that we’d like to see stay in the area.”

The initial plan has received much feedback. We’re not convinced the plan is where it needs to be. If you want to be like Portland (or even follow AASHTO bicycle design guidelines), you don’t put in sidepaths where there is a fair amount of cross streets and driveways.

We prefer Planner Dan Burden’s suggestions to treat the outside lane of Woodward as a local lane for turning traffic, buses, and bicycles. That lane could even be painted or marked to indicate it’s not designed for high-speed through traffic. That is an inexpensive solution that doesn’t remove a vehicle lane yet improves bicycling opportunities for intermediate and advanced riders.

UPDATE: Heather Carmona also discussed this on the July 15th Craig Fahle show on WDET. The Woodward discussion begins 38 minutes into the show.