The Adventure Cycling blog talks about a recent visit to Detroit to discuss a new Underground Railroad bicycle route. This route will be a spur off their existing Underground Railroad route. The Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance is assisting in this effort.

Now, at the urging of the National Park Service’s National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom Program (and with support from Adventure Cycling members), we’re pleased to say we’ll be expanding the Underground Railroad Route once more — to south eastern Michigan (including Detroit) and south western Ontario (including the Buxton Historic Site).

There is an intense amount of passion in Detroit for this history. I witnessed a small sampling during my visit. The Michigan Freedom Trails Commission and the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History will play an important role in helping us incorporate the best sites and history into this route, and cycling advocates will help us ensure the route stays true to the Adventure Cycling standards of scenic and safe roads and trails.

Though there’s a lot of work to be done to get this route from concept to map, I am honored, once again, to be working with dedicated people on something that will bring economic and active transportation opportunities to a city once known as the Paris of the Midwest.

Read the entire Adventure Cycling article

From a recent Wall Street Journal blog posting, What’s Most Important in Choosing Where to Live?:

A recent survey tackled the question of what bonds us to the places we live, and its findings suggest the quality of our juggle is a more influential factor than economists might think. Given a choice, most people don?t care as much about the local economy as they do about the social offerings, physical beauty and openness of a locale, says a recently released survey of about 14,000 people in 26 communities by Gallup and the Knight Foundation.

Those intangibles ” how warm, welcoming and fun a community seems to be” are apparently why people living in Miami tend to like it even more than they did last year. Residents of Minneapolis-St. Paul had an above-average regard for their town even “B.F. – Before Favre” joined the Vikings, this article reports. Even in hard-pressed Detroit, citizens are liking life a little more than in recent years, perhaps because of better parks, green spaces and recreational opportunities, marked by investments in bike paths.

Bil Lusa and myself are expecting to be on the Craig Fahle Show today at about 11:30am on WDET to talk about bicycling. More specifically the topic should include the 9 Detroit projects we recently highlighted for 2010.

We also may get a chance to talk about a yet-to-be-officially-named bike week in Detroit. This is about 8 days of assorted bike-related events in Detroit and Windsor, which includes the Tour de Troit, UDM Night Ride, PEAC Celebration of Cycling, and more.

Todd Scott

Al Fields was the go-to guy in Mayor Kilpatrick’s office when it came to getting bike projects done in the city of Detroit.

He left his position in August 2008 to work for DTE.

While we struggled to fill the void, Council President then Mayor Ken Cockrel Jr. stepped up in a major way. The passing of the Non-Motorized Transportation Plan really gave bicycling momentum within the city.

That has led to more bike/greenway projects scheduled for 2010. The Department of Public Works (DPW) also created both internal and external non-motorized transportation task forces to help push the plan’s implementation forward. And DPW has anointed Prasad Nannapaneni as the program manager.

Now, adding to this momentum is the great news that Al Fields is returning to the city of Detroit as Mayor Bing’s Group Executive of Planning.

It’s going to be a great 2010.

Earlier this month, the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) started a new Cities for Cycling project with a kick off event in Washington DC, which we were able to attend.

But first, what is NACTO? While the more popular American Association of State and Highway Transportation Officials (AASHTO) is for states, NACTO is the equivalent for large U.S. cities. NACTO has 14 member cities, including Detroit.

The Cities for Cycling project mission is to “catalog, promote and implement the world’s best bicycle transportation practices in American municipalities.”

Bicycling is good for cities. Providing safe, comfortable, convenient bicycling facilities is a cost-effective way for American municipalities to improve mobility, livability and public health while reducing traffic congestion and CO2 emissions.

Cities for Cycling focuses on implementing world-class bicycle transportation systems through design innovation and the sharing of best practices. American municipalities are increasingly pioneering new designs and adapting international best practices to local conditions. To assist this local-level leadership, the Cities for Cycling project works to share and promote state-of-the-art practices that ensure safe traffic conditions for all modes of travel.

Why Cities for Cycling?

New York City Department of Transportation Commissioner and NACTO president Janette Sadik-Khan also gave another reason for this project. (more…)