When talking about trails, water trails or blueways are often not given their due — especially in Detroit. But there are some groups working hard to change that.

Kelli Kavanaugh has an excellent article in Model D talking about a recent kayak adventure.

A blue heron rises gracefully into the air. A fish jumps, the splash rising just over my shoulder. A muskrat sleekly dives. My kayak cuts noiselessly through the water. All this, on Detroit’s East Side.

Riverside Kayaks has been at the forefront pushing these water trails along the Detroit River and others downstream. In my trails job with MTGA, I’ve been helping where I can.

One issue we’re working to resolve involves existing city ordinances. It’s illegal to launch a kayak from a city park unless you first get permission from the recreation department. This ordinance may be a holdover from the days of Prohibition and rum running across the Detroit River when Belle Isle might be a welcomed landing spot.

Riverside Kayaks and MTGA are working with Councilwoman Sheila Cockrel’s office to change that ordinance to exempt small, light craft such as kayaks. We hope to have that change completed this year prior to Ms. Cockrel’s retirement from Council.

Back to Kavanaugh’s Model D article, she also highlights some of the Conner Creek Greenway additions that are in the works.

DECC’s Libby Pachota… is working on raising funds for the Conner Creek Greenway that will ultimately run from the Detroit River to Eight Mile.

DECC’s greenway efforts have led to the construction of a 2 1/2-mile section near City Airport as well as a short stretch called Milbank. Next up: bike lanes on St. Jean between Mack and Jefferson that will then connect down to Maheras Gentry Park. A third phase will connect McNichols to Eight Mile along Outer Drive and Conner. Funds are committed and these four miles will be completed by 2011, says Pachota.

While the city had hoped to have the St. Jean bike lanes in this year, they’ve been pushed back to next year. (This Saturday’s Tour de Troit metric century route will include this section of St. Jean.)

We’re also working with Macomb County to continue the Conner Creek Greenway north of Eight Mile, perhaps taking advantage of some upcoming improvements to Van Dyke.

Here’s some media coverage related to biking in Detroit:

Make the Motor City Smaller

Free Press write Bill McGraw has an article in Newsweek about the need to manage shrinking in Detroit.

Detroit has been shrinking for 50 years. The city has lost more than half of the 2 million people it had in the early 1950s, but it remains 138 square miles. Experts estimate that about 40 square miles are empty, and [Mayor Dave] Bing has said that only about half the city’s land is being used productively.

The next steps are complicated and largely uncharted. Moving residents into more densely populated districts has legal and moral implications; it must be done with care and the input of those who would be moved. And what do you do with the empty space? The city is already dotted with big vegetable gardens, and one entrepreneur has proposed starting a large commercial farm. Some people advocate bike paths, greenways, and other recreation areas. Surrounded by fresh water, and buffeted by nature reasserting itself on land where factories used to be, Detroit could someday be the greenest, most livable urban area in the country. A city can dream, can’t it?

Of course the positve side to this abandonment is our roads have few motorists and it’s a great place to bike. This largely goes unrecognized because the yardstick for bikeability is how much money a city has invested in bike lanes and bike racks. That bike-friendly yardstick fails to acknowledge how a shrinking city can make a city more bikeable.

On a related note, I spoke briefly with Detroit council candidate Charles Pugh at Saturday’s Dally in the Alley. He wants to sit down and discuss how greenways fit into a plan for shrinking Detroit.

Right way is the only way to ride a bike

The Times Herald out of Port Huron has a well-written column about riding on the right side of the road. Apparently they had many of their reads call in regarding biking.

Of course, it is a less-than-scientific survey, but a majority of TalkBack callers believe bicycle riders should travel on the left side of the road, against traffic.

On this, as in many matters, a majority of TalkBack callers are wrong.

One additional point is that riding against traffic on a sidewalk or sidepath (also called safety path) is even more dangerous than riding against traffic on the road.

Campaign focuses on plight of Rust Belt

The Pittsburg Post-Gazette covered the Great Lakes Urban Exchange also known as GLUE, who asks the question, “I Will Stay If…” at events throughout the Rust Belt.

The Detroit party was “a qualified success,” said Ms. [Sarah] Szurpicki. “We had around 100 people and collected over 80 good photos” of participants holding a white board with the phrase “I Will Stay If …” completed.

“The photos show that people want better regional cooperation, public transit, bike lanes, curbside recycling, things like that. And what has come out of this is people saying ‘I am staying to be a part of something,’ ‘I am staying because I want to help build that curbside recycling program.’

“This is about place-building.”

Yesterday 60 cyclists rode where no one had in more than 30 years — on the Ambassador Bridge from Detroit to Windsor.

This was the inaugural Bike the Bridge event, a special group ride which worked out the details with the Detroit International Bridge Company (DIBC) as well as U.S. and Canadian Customs.

The DIBC closed the Detroit-to-Windsor side of the bridge to motorized traffic during the ride over. They also placed mats over the expansion joints to help prevent any tire damage.

It took about 20 minutes for the cyclists to clear the bridge. That’s not too bad considering this is the tallest hill climb in Detroit.

Once in Canada, the group was met by Alan Halberstadt, a Windsor City Councillor and member of the Windsor Bicycle Committee. Halberstadt led the group on a tour of historic village of Sandwich and the Windsor’s Riverfront bike trail.

Halberstadt did mention that if the DIBC builds a second span across the Detroit River, they have mentioned keeping the existing bridge open and possibly available for non-motorized traffic. It’s still far too early to speculate whether than will happen or not.

The new proposed public bridge (called the DRIC) does plan to provide bike and pedestrian access.

The ride continued to a Windsor park where the group was fed. The 51st annual Tour di Via Italia bike race was just a few blocks away on Erie Street.

For the return to Detroit, the bicycle were loaded onto a rental truck and Transit Windsor provided two buses.

Biking in Windsor, Ontario is really a nearby gem, but unfortunately Detroit cyclists can’t just ride to it — at least not yet. Having a convenient, year round non-motorized international connection across the Detroit River would really increase the appeal of biking in the Detroit-Windsor area.

Link: Photos from Bike the Bridge

Imagine biking down a quiet residential street next to a wooded creek. Imagine clearing snow of the frozen creek for outsdoor ice skating in the winter.

Now imagine that in Royal Oak.

Impossible?

No, not at all. It used to happen in Royal Oak According to historical accounts. At least two tributaries of the Red Run passed through Royal Oak with the more prominent one being along Vinsetta Boulevard.

Those bridges crossing over Vinsetta used to be bridges over the creek as shown in this photo.

Then in the 1920s and 1930s, Red Run was buried in a large drain.

Other Michigan cities such as Detroit and Pontiac have also buried rivers.

The city of Pontiac has discussed daylighting the Clinton River through the downtown area.

In Detroit, on planning expert suggested daylighting creeks in the more vacant parts of the city, damming them, and creating lakes surrounded by forests. Imagine biking past around that in Detroit. Perhaps the Huron-Clinton Metropolitan Authority could create a Metropark within the city boundaries.

But this discussion is occuring beyond Michigan. The New York Times published an article about river daylighting both inside and outside of the U.S.

Certainly it costs money. Everything does. But there are benefits to doing this besides creating more recreational opportunities.

How much would home values along Vinsetta increase if the Red Run was restored? Would that justify the cost?

Dan Burden in Southwest Detroit

In July, MDOT brought Dan Burden to a number of Michigan cities for walkability audits. Burden is from Glatting Jackson and is acknowledged as among the leading authorities on improving streets for walking and biking.

One visit was in Southwest Detroit. The audit was on Vernor Avenue from Clark to Livernois. We were joined by a couple city of Detroit traffic engineers who are looking to improve pedestrian safety along this specific stretch of road.

Some of Burden’s ideas included painted bike lanes (painted as in the entire lane, e.g. blue or green), a couple minor roundabouts (to slow traffic), and improved pedestrian crossings. And he also emphasized the need to change the facades. Too many of the buildings have covered or blocked their front windows. It would be best if these were unblocked so that there are more “eyes on the street” and adding to the pedestrian comfort levels.

Burden also visited Hamtramck. Model D Media has a coverage of his Detroit visits.

Dan Burden on Woodward

Next, Burden headed over the Woodward Avenue and stopped in communties between Birmingham and Ferndale. Some of his suggestions were noted in a Free Press article (no longer on-line):

City planners could revive Woodward Avenue with bike lanes, slower traffic, 100,000 new trees and big improvements at pedestrian crossings.

And that’s just the start of a vision that consultant Dan Burden shared last week with local officials, road engineers and residents, as he led what he calls walkability audits in Pontiac, Birmingham, Royal Oak and Pleasant Ridge.

To attract “the creative class” that can jump-start a region’s growth: “You start with paint. You put in bike lanes and get trees planted, and that brings the speeds of motorists down, and then the buildings start to come back, and with that, the tax base. That lets you redesign the streets,” he said.

Some of Burden’s suggestions were simply no-brainers. While auditing the crosswalks at 13 Mile and Woodward, we noted that MDOT had placed a sign that blocked the pedestrian walk signal. Another Don’t Walk signal was barely working.

Near Pasquale’s, there’s a sign telling pedestrians not to cross there. Burden correctly deduced that these signs are put up by cities when pedestrians are killed, rather than fix the problem. In this case, using a signalized crosswalk would require more than a half-mile of walking, which is completely unrealistic.

This isn’t Burden’s first visit to the area. Years ago Burden had advised Ferndale to narrow 9 Mile, which led to a huge turnaround and improvement to the area.

Unfortunately this time around, not all the communities were as receptive.

During a walking audit in Pleasant Ridge, Burden told local officials, “I can’t help you if your community wants to be auto-dependent.” Burden suggested they convert some of their mostly unused (and often inaccessible) green space into high density, mixed-use development. Sure, trees are “green”, but it would be more “green” if their residents could walk or bike rather than drive to nearby coffee shops, an ice cream parlors, or convenience stores.

Woodward: Next Steps

But there’s more momentum to improving Woodward for biking and walking than these audits, as evidenced by this press release:

The Woodward Avenue Action Association is pleased to announce that in partnership with engineering firm Giffels-Webster, we are closer to finding ways to make Woodward more pedestrian & bike friendly. The Woodward Avenue Non-Motorized Plan will focus on Woodward between 8 mile and Maple will identify ways for communities to plan and zone safer routes for non-motorist users of Woodward. Some of the elements being looked at for this plan include reducing speed limits, developing landscaped buffer zones and more countdown times at crosswalks.

This study was prompted by the city of Royal Oak, who is now doing a non-motorized study for the entire city. Other cities who have become examples of getting non-motorized plans right include the city of Ferndale. Since the early 1990’s the city has transformed its downtown which sits squarely along Woodward, from desolate streets into a thriving bustling district. Improvements such as parking lots developed behind stores, reduction in traffic lanes and lowered speed limits have all contributed to the economic boos Ferndale is currently experiencing. For more information on this program please contact, Nicole Klepadlo, WA3 Program Manager.

The Oakland Press recently ran an article that also discussed Woodward Avenue and this planning effort.

Of course beyond the communities that are dug in and ready to defend status quo, there’s MDOT. They’ve been willing to listen to these sorts of efforts but haven’t been overly interested in any plans that they think would reduce Woodward’s level of service.

That’s a level of service for motorists, of course.

However, they have acknowledged that the vehicle counts on Woodward have been declining. They should drop even further once Woodward gets light rail north of Eight Mile.