The Detroit News is reporting about an initial clean up of Fordson Island in the Rouge River.

As noted in the article, the island is part of greenway connection between Hines Drive/Rouge Gateway and the Southwest Detroit Greenlink/Corktown.

A conceptual master plan from 2002 shows the Rouge Gateway continuing to follow the Rouge downstream. Currently the Gateway trail ends at Michigan Avenue, but with this plan it would extend southeast to the Fort Street bridge over the river. Fordson Island is directly upstream from that bridge.

And  as we mentioned a couple years ago, the Marathon Oil Company, the island’s primary land owner, wants to donate it for public greenspace. And that pledge to donate the land meant a proposed change to the master plans. That change is to shift the trail from the east river bank to the west and have the trail go across the island.

This connection could really spur economic development — even if it only connects those hungry cyclists on Hines Drive with the awesome Southwest Detroit taquerias.

Corktown/Mexicantown Greenlink

The Greater Corktown Development Corporation spearheaded this Greenlink plan that would make Detroit’s Corktown and Mexicantown neighborhoods some of the most bike friendly places in Michigan. Among other bike facilities, the plans include about 20 miles of bike lanes. The Tour-de-Troit has been raising money for this project for some time as well.

However, the Greater Corktown Development Corporation has suffered financial issues as reported by Crain’s Detroit Business, but the project is moving forward.

To continue work on the Corktown-Mexicantown Greenlink project to connect those communities to Detroit’s west riverfront, Greater Corktown has secured an agreement from Southwest Detroit Business Association to serve as the new fiduciary for the greenlink, a project it’s worked on for over five years.

SDBA is working with Greater Corktown, the Michigan Department of Transportation and the Community Foundation of Southeast Michigan to combine as one project the greenlink, the Southwest Detroit/East Dearborn Greenway it’s been shepherding, and other walkway and bike path work the city has planned for west Vernor, said Kathleen Wendler, president of the business association.

“I like to think of it as SDBA adopting the infant we took care of for some time but are currently unable to raise,” said Kavanaugh, a freelance writer and co-owner of Wheelhouse Detroit Bike Shop.

Yesterday at Councilmember Ken Cockrel’s Green Task Force, Detroit Traffic Engineering said they still hope this project can begin by the end of this construction season. Detroit’s W. Vernor project (from Waterman to Lansing Street) is expected to be done this year — which also includes bike lanes and improvements to that unlit (and nearly unpaved!) railroad underpass west of Livernois.

Once these three projects are completed, there will be bike lanes all along W. Vernor. This will greatly improve access to the amazing restaurants and bakeries in Southwest Detroit — an unbeatable fueling station for cyclists.

Villages CDC Planning & Bike Ambassadors

Model D is reporting on a recent grant awarded to the Villages CDC which include non-motorized planning.

The Villages CDC has been awarded $215,000 from the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan for greenways and bike lane planning and design. The money will also be used for community outreach and construction documents. Villages board member Kim Clayson hopes to complete this pre-development phase by February of next year.

While details are yet to be worked out, The Villages hopes to link its community up with other existing and planned greenways in Detroit, including the Dequindre Cut, Detroit RiverWalk and Conner Creek Greenway. Partners will include the Detroit Eastside Community Collaborative, Detroit RiverFront Conservancy, Creekside CDC, Jefferson East Business Association and Gleaners, since the agency is preliminarily planning a connection from its food bank to the Riverwalk.

Regarding the Gleaner’s Food Bank, they too received a grant for a feasibility study. That study will look at converting the abandoned railroad east of Beaufait into a trail. That railroad property runs from the Uniroyal site on the Detroit River (just west of the bridge) to Gratiot. This potential trail would also connect with the Capuchin Soup Kitchen and their Earthworks Farm.

The Villages CDC grant is also funding the development of a bike ambassador strategy for Detroit. The Active Transportation Alliance out of Chicago will be working with local stakeholders to develop this strategy based upon their successful program in Chicago: Mayor Daley’s Bicycling Ambassadors.

Mayor Daley’s Bicycling Ambassadors work toward the following objectives:

• to increase the number of trips made by bicycle
• to reduce the number of bicycle-related injuries
• to help all users – bike riders, motorists, and pedestrians – better share roads and off-street trails.

To accomplish these goals, the Ambassadors appear at events throughout Chicago to reach as many Chicagoans as possible with bicycle safety education. Ambassadors talk face-to-face with Chicagoans and give presentations to kids, teens, and adults by participating in community events.

There are also Junior Ambassadors who “work with the Bicycling Ambassadors to deliver bicycle safety messages to their peers.”

There would certainly be many benefits having a similar program in Detroit, and thankfully the Villages CDC and the Community Foundation are planting that seed.

The Southwest Detroit Business Association (SDBA) is inviting people to a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Cinco de Mayo marks the opening of the Pediestrian Bridge connecting East and West Mexicantown.

Come down to the MDOT Welcome Center on Bagley, May 5, 2010 to mark this historic occasion! Event starts at 1:00 PM, with the official opening ceremony at 2:00 PM.

Come to celebrate the historic opening, Stay for a margarita!

How can you saw no? This much anticipated bridge will be opening in Mexicantown on Cinco de Mayo.

W. Vernor improvements to target pedestrian safety, add bike lanes

Model D has published follow up to the open house we mentioned earlier in Southwest Detroit.

Concepts shared at the Open House include the installation of bike lanes on W. Vernor between Waterman and Lansing, which would mean narrowing the road down in some areas to one lane of vehicular traffic; redoing the street surface and water and sewage lines on the stretch of W. Vernor that passes under the viaduct just east the W. Vernor/Dix/Waterman intersection, as well as the installation of new sidewalks and lighting; the incorporation of a left-turn lane on eastbound W. Vernor at Livernois to prevent illegal and unsafe turns; and improving lane configuration at the W. Vernor/Dix/Waterman intersection to prevent lane jockeying.

Plans will be submitted for approval to the Michigan Department of Transportation this month in the hope that construction can begin this year.

All total this will be about two miles of bike lanes (1 mile westbound, 1 mile eastbound.) Plans also call for lighting underneath the viaduct.

Sounds like a Complete Street to us!

Sharing Woodward Avenue

Metromode has an article on returning Woodward Avenue to a Complete Street.

That means making the thoroughfare friendly to all forms of transportation, like pedestrians, bicyclists, trains and automobiles. It also means building density and economic opportunity along Michigan’s Main Street. The belief is that by making Woodward less car-dominant it can grow into one of Metro Detroit’s primary economic engines.

“The time has come,” says Heather Carmona, executive director of the Woodward Avenue Action Association, a non-profit that advocates for the avenue. “The irony is decades ago Woodward was a transportation-inclusive corridor, but it lost that with the rise of the automotive industry. However, it’s coming back full circle.”

Detroit Has to Demolish Before it Can Rebuild

ABC News has a story on Mayor Bing’s efforts to rebuild and reinvent Detroit.

Demographer Kurt Metzger envisions small urban villages connected by parks and bike paths.

“We could become the greenest city in the country because of the land that we have if we start to manage it correctly,” he said.

We share that vision as do many others. While the Mayor in his recent state of the city address did not specifically say bike paths and greenways, he did mention “parks and green space” twice:

Strengthening our city will take a long-term strategy for how we use Detroit’s 140 square miles more productively. The harsh reality is that some areas are no longer viable neighborhoods with the population loss and financial situation our city faces. But instead of looking at our land as a liability, we need to begin to think creatively about how it can be a resource as we rebuild our city. That conversation is in its initial stages but let me take a moment to dispel some myths out there.

We’re not giving away or selling any neighborhoods to anyone. This is about determining what areas of our city are best suited for residential use, commercial and industrial businesses, parks and green space.

When I imagine Detroit’s future, I see a city with vibrant neighborhoods, with retail and grocery stores, a city that’s home to thriving small businesses, better mass transit and community parks and green space. But it will take all of us to make that happen and it’s a process that will not happen overnight.

And he also mentioned Detroit’s Safe Routes to School effort.

Last year the city of Detroit received special funding for improving non-motorized safety along West Vernor Avenue in Southwest Detroit. This work is related to last July’s walkability audits with Dan Burden along this same stretch of roadway.

Now the city is hosting an open house to discuss their plans to improve safety along this corridor, including bike lanes.

Here are more details from the city of Detroit Traffic Engineering department:

Vernor Ave (Waterman to Lansing) Corridor Safety Improvement Project

Come to this open house to learn more about plans for traffic and safety improvements along the corridor, including new crosswalks, upgraded traffic signals, and changes to striping and lane use on Vernor Avenue. This project is intended to promote pedestrian and vehicular safety and the vitality of the area.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010, 6:00pm – 7:30pm

Most Holy Redeemer Church
1721 Junction St. in Detroit (Southwest corner of Vernor and Junction)
Meet in the “Blue Room”

For more information, contact Prasad Nannapaneni at 313‐628‐5603