Kathy Wendler of the Southwest Detroit Business Association addresses the ribbon cutting crowd

Bagley Bridge in Mexicantown

The ribbon cutting for the I-75 Gateway Project was Monday.

Northbound and southbound I-75 are now open. However, the Bagley bike and pedestrian bridge is not.

MDOT announced that the ramps will be completed in a later construction phase. According to the Detroit News, it won’t open until November.

Metro Detroit Trails

The Detroit News recently published an interactive map showing shared-use trails in Metro Detroit. It really shows how these trails are starting to connect into a larger regionwide network — a process largely led by the Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance.

Draft Trailway Master Plan

The Spinal Column is reporting the completion of a draft master plan for the Huron Valley Trail extension eastward from Wixom to M-5.

The Commerce, Walled Lake and Wixom Trailway Management Council will hold a public hearing at 7 p.m. on July 30 in the Commerce Township Hall to receive public comment on a proposed master plan for the Michigan Airline Railroad corridor.

The trailway council, made up of representatives of three communities that seek to acquire stretches of the railroad running through their jurisdiction, is expected to adopt the master plan at the July 30 meeting.

This plan was paid for by a $5,250 donation from the Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance.

Google is soliciting input for new features in Google Maps.

We won’t tell you how to vote, but these features certainly would be welcomed.

• Add trail information to Terrain view
• Include walking and hiking trails in walking directions
• Add bike trail information and biking directions

If Google were to include this information on Google Maps, it could replace some current web sites designed to provide this information — especially those that require payment.

[Thanks to Sue Moretto for forwarding this information.]

Another attack on the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund has been launched.

As we noted earlier, Michigan’s road builders are looking to divert money from the Trust Fund to fill their gaps in transportation funding. Fortunately it would require changing our state constitution to do so. Given the backlash this incurred, there seems to be some backing away from this suggestion.

Now State Representative Sheltrown (D-Roscommon) is recommending two-thirds of the Trust Fund’s annual grants be diverted to subsidize hunting and fishing instead of buying park land and building trails.

“Despite the importance hunting and fishing has in Michigan and its impact on the state’s economy, Michigan is near the bottom nationally in support of its conservation programs,” Mr. Sheltrown said. “An increase in state general fund revenue is unrealistic given the state’s continued budget deficits. Imposing new fees or increasing existing fees above the rate of inflation to make up shortfalls is counterproductive to the long-term viability of hunting and fishing programs. There has to be a different solution.”

There is a different solution. Raise the hunting and fishing license fees. The Trust Fund was not created to solve structural deficits in DNR operations.

What can you do? If and when Sheltrown introduces a bill we must be prepared to strongly advocate against it. We’ll stay on top of this.

It’s also worth mentioning that Sheltrown is the same legislator that introduced a bill that would have opened up all DNR trails to ATVs if the rider was 60 and over or disabled.

A PERSON NOT LESS THAN 60 YEARS OF AGE OR A PERSON WITH A DISABILITY MAY OPERATE AN ATV ON A NONDESIGNATED TRAIL, ROUTE, OR?AREA FOR PLEASURE OR HUNTING OR TO ACCESS A DESIGNATED TRAIL, ROUTE, OR AREA. AS USED IN THIS SUBSECTION, “PERSON WITH A DISABILITY” MEANS THAT TERM AS DEFINED IN SECTION 103 OF THE PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES CIVIL RIGHTS ACT, 1976 PA 220, MCL 37.1103.

Imagine all the singletrack at our state parks and recreational areas being opened to ATVs! This would have severely decimated many popular trails, but especially those like Island Lake that have sandier soils.

Fortunately that bill died in the last legislative session. It would not be a surprise to see it introduced a third time in his final term.

The Michigan Recreation and Parks Association is having another trails forum on Tuesday, February 3rd in Dearborn.

A list of the trail forum sessions is on-line.

The fee for those already attending the conference is $65.  For those just attending the trails forum, the fee is $105.

I will be there giving the presentation Building Urban Trails and Greenways with a collaborative effort in Detroit.

From the MRPA:

The MRPA Trails Greenways and Blueways Committee presents the 2nd state-wide trails forum.

The day long forum will consist of several case studies of successful trails. Presenters will include information specific to their trail on planning, construction and programming trails. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn about the successes and flaws in an educational format. Case studies include trail systems of Grand Rapids, Grosse Ille, Heart of Michigan, Detroit, Columbus, and others.

The lunch event will afford networking with trail experts.

The invited keynotes speaker of the forum is Tim O’Brien, former Vice President, Ford Motor Company. As deputy chief of staff at Ford, Mr. O’Brien was instrumental in Ford’s initiative of integrating sustainability into all aspects of its business strategy. Mr. O’Brien was the Ford Motor Company liaison in the Rouge Gateway Partnership. This public/private stakeholder group developed the Rouge Gateway Master Plan and Greenway. He championed the revitalization of the Rouge Center with its environmentally responsible manufacturing system and the largest green roof in North America. Mr. O’Brien is now an independent consultant specializing in “environmental mediation”.

Please join the MRPA Trails, Greenways and Blueways Committee for this day long forum of education and networking.

The International Mountain Bicycling Association brings a huge amount of professionalism and energy to the table for all of us that use trails.

Now it’s our turn to step up.  We need mountain bikers to contact the National Park Service.

According to IMBA:

The U.S. National Park Service (NPS) has proposed an important rule change that will make it easier for parks to open trails to mountain biking. IMBA urges mountain bikers to register comments in support of the new rule. We have been asking the NPS to make this change since the 1990s — we now enter a 60-day commentary period to make the change official.

We know that several groups are working hard to defeat this proposal. It will take thousands of comments supporting the NPS to ensure the rule is approved. Please lend your voice to the discussion today.

Fortunately IMBA has made it super simple to contact the National Park Service.

And they’re also so professional about it.  As opposition groups rely on whipping up emotions and passions to get a response, IMBA writes a white paper that responsibly lays out the impacts of this rule change.

A rule change will not diminish protections that ensure appropriate trail use. All regular NPS regulations, General Management Planning (GMP) processes, and the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) still applies. Absolutely no environmental processes will be shortchanged. The public will still have ample opportunity to comment both locally and nationally. The parks that have existing mountain biking have gone through the GMP and NEPA processes and the trails are signed, actively managed and documented in the superintendent’s compendium.

If you want to support IMBA a bit more, by all means consider an IMBA membership.

And if you hurry, you can still get the tax deduction for this year.