Certainly the massive looming issue in Detroit is the future of our Big 3 domestic automakers.  It’s frustrating, depressing and much more.

If there’s any silver lining, this crisis might bring the region together as one.  It really does feel like Detroit vs. 49 other states.  It certainly makes the city-suburb divide look awfully trivial.

But this is a bike advocacy blog, so what does this mean for trails and greenways?

No one knows yet.  We do know that the Big 3 automakers contribute to trail development in the area.  Chrysler is a big supporter of DECC and the Conner Creek Greenway.  General Motors has put significant resources into the Riverwalk.  The Ford Motor Company is a partner in the Rouge Gateway project.

However we should note how the housing fallout was a big hit for trails.  Many of the non-profits developing trails in Detroit are also developing housing.  They rely on income from housing sales or other community development.  With the real estate market in the dumps, the income isn’t coming in like it was.  Many are struggling beyond the imaginable.

But fortunately there is still some funding available for trails.

Today the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy announced a $1 million donation from Wayne County.  It did not come from the county budget, according to County Executive Robert Ficano:

“This award to the Detroit RiverFront Conservancy represents the County’s support of the riverfront and how it positively impacts people’s lives. Through grant funds received by Wayne County for public safety and healthy living and wellness efforts, today I announce a $1 million award to the Detroit RiverFront Conservancy made possible from the county departments of Homeland Security/Emergency Management and Health and Human Services. The funds will be used to support the riverfront’s public safety initiatives and health and wellness activities on the riverwalk and its ajoining parks. While we will continue to explore ways support the riverfront project, there are no county general fund dollars being used in making this contribution.”

The Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan also gave $500,000 for work on the near east-side neighborhoods, which includes the East Riverfront and Dequindre Cut.

Some huge Detroit trail funding announcements are expected in 2009.

Stay tuned, but in the meantime, pray for good news for the Big 3.

The Hamtramck Trail project is moving forward once again.

This is due in part to Hamtramck resident Dick Kaleski and the new Hamtramck Community and Economic Development Director Jason Friedmann.  On Monday, both Dick and Jason were on Detroit Today with Craig Fahle.  If you missed it, there is an MP3 of the show.

Jason was also highlighted last week in a Model D article.

Here’s a brief description of the Hamtramck Trail from the Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance web site:

The Hamtramck Greenway is a planned 1.5-mile that will eventually connect Downtown Hamtramck with the Dequindre Cut and the Detroit Riverfront.  The trail also passes through historic Veterans’ Memorial Park and a diverse community of Polish, Bengali, and Arabic residents.  The Trail is a project of Preserve Our Parks, a 10-year old non-profit community organization in Hamtramck, Michigan.

And actually that is just Phase I of the trail.  There are tentative plans to expand it further and hopefully integrate it with Hamtramck’s Safe Routes to Schools project.

Of course not all the funding is in place for Phase I, but that is being worked on.

The Detroit News ran an article a couple weeks ago about Oakland County Parks completing a Trails Master Plan:

It’s always been a vision in Oakland County: a continuous, linked outdoor trail system that connects communities, downtowns and schools.

But gaps in the system — much of it built on top of old railroad lines — continue.

Bridging those gaps is a major focus of Oakland County’s first Trails Master Plan developed and released by county parks officials last month.

The Trails Master Plan is a beautiful and very professional document.  Electronic copies are available from the Oakland County web site.

And speaking of the Oakland County web site, it has been updated.  If you haven’t checked out their trails web page lately, you should.

It doesn’t seem all that long ago that a group of us were called together by Oakland County Parks in the late 90s.  While they had traditionally limited their involvement to fenced parks, they did note the momentum of trail development across the county.  Our group pushed them in that direction.  They’ve come a long way since then, which is great news for anyone who rides a horse, a bike, or simply walks.

Link: Oakland works to link trails, Detroit News

Here’s information for an upcoming forum on one of Detroit’s most talked about greenways:

The Detroit Riverfront Conservancy is hosting a Community Forum on Tuesday, November 18, 2008 at Friends School at 5:30 p.m.   The October 28th Forum provided an update on the construction of the Dequindre Cut, the Conservancy’s role in the future of the Dequindre Cut and an update on the East Riverfront.

The Metro Times recently published their Best Of awards.  Detroit trails and bicycling walked away with a number of awards.

Perhaps the most unexpected was the award for Next best thing to light rail for Detroit.  The winner was the Detroit non-motorized transportation master plan.

Working quietly last month, Detroit City Council heard and approved the Detroit Non-Motorized Transportation Master Plan. That sounds deathly dull, but it’s actually exciting news for the pedalists among us. Though the state had vowed to commit funds to cycling initiatives in Detroit, and Detroit’s Traffic Engineering Department had signed off on the endeavor, the plan had never been brought before council for its approval — something MDOT needed before it would help move things forward. The plan ought to get cyclists pumped: It will track cycling destinations across Detroit with an eye to connecting them with a network of bike trails, lanes and greenways, calling for as many as 400 miles of bike lanes across the city. The plan’s organizers believe lanes could be painted down during normal MDOT road maintenance. And for groups wanting bike lanes in their neck of the woods, working in tandem with the city means it won’t be the uphill slog it used to be.

Wow!

Here are the rest of the awards.

Metro Times People’s Poll

BEST BICYCLING PATH OR TRAIL
Dequindre Cut

BEST PLACE TO ADD BICYCLING PATH OR TRAIL
Woodward Avenue

BEST MOUNTAIN BIKING
Pontiac Recreation Area

BEST ROAD TO PRETEND YOU’RE LANCE ARMSTRONG
Hines Drive

BEST DETROIT RIVERFRONT ATTRACTION
RiverWalk

Read more about each People Poll winner at the Metro Times.

Metro Times Staff Picks

DETROIT’S BEST STEP FORWARD
Detroit’s RiverWalk

BEST WAY TO SUPPORT RIVERWALK
Buy a brick

NEXT BEST THING TO LIGHT RAIL FOR DETROIT
City Bicycling Plan

BEST PROJECT OF 2008 WE’RE STILL WAITING TO BE FINISHED
Dequindre Cut Bicycle Path

BEST URBAN GETAWAY
University of Michigan-Dearborn natural area (and Rouge Gateway Trail)

Read more about the Staff Pick’s at the Metro Times.