The Independent Film Channel (IFC) is debuting a short six-part series called Portlandia next Friday.
Each episode’s character-based shorts draw viewers into “Portlandia,” the creators’ dreamy and absurd rendering of Portland, Oregon.
Included among the characters is the “militant bike messenger” who’s shown rather humorously in the video snippet below.
Ugh… cars… MAN… WHY???
Blame the cyclists from the 1890s.
Back then, counties weren’t involved in building roads, but farmers were. That was a problem for bicyclists. These roads weren’t well engineered, didn’t drain properly, and were hub deep in mud during the spring.
But the roads were good enough for horses.
And at that time, a popular sentiment was that county government had no role in building and maintaining roads.
Cyclists began the Good Roads movement and one of their first victories in Michigan (thanks to Edward Hines) was an 1893 state law that allowed the creation of county road commissions. These commissions were separate from county government and had enough autonomy so that they could ignore the naysayers in the farming community and improve the roads.
By the 1920s, according to Horatio “Good Roads” Earle, the cyclist who founded MDOT, the debate over the importance of good roads was over. Even the farmers agreed that building good roads was a good investment.
However, the road commissions that were separate from county government remained.
All but Wayne and Macomb Counties operate on what’s called a “unified form of government” which is defined by state law. This law allows Michigan counties to hire a county manager to oversee departments for planning, economic development, health, environmental protection, parks, libraries, sewage, airports, garbage collection, human services, and more.
See what’s missing? (more…)
With only 11 total miles of bike lanes, Oakland County is not even competitive in terms of bike friendliness — except when they’re competing against Macomb County.
Macomb has zero miles of bike lanes.
Harrison Township Supervisor Anthony Forlini tried getting bike lanes but was rebuffed by the Macomb County Road Commission.
Excepted from an archived Macomb Daily editorial, August 18, 2009:
Robert Hoepfner, chief highway engineer for the road commission, has no complaint with bicyclists. But he is concerned about safety. Many county roads simply aren’t wide enough for the kind of designated lanes Forlini described, Hoepfner said.
If county residents want designated areas for bicyclists, “Then let’s build bike paths and make them safe,” he said.
As we noted back in August of 2008 , Hoepfner showed his lack of knowledge on AASHTO design guidelines for bicycle facilities and best practices.
And he apparently hasn’t learned much since then. Just last month he proposed adding a side path to a road widening project. If the road was being widened, why isn’t it being made wide enough for bike lanes? What’s the excuse now?
Last Tuesday was the last meeting of the Macomb County Road Commission. After creating a county charter, a vote of the people and the amendment of state law, Macomb County was able to combine the county road commission and county government, saving the taxpayers money as well. (Governor Snyder, It shouldn’t be that difficult to combine county government with county road commissions in order to save money.)
Like Wayne County, Macomb County now has a road division as part of county government. It’s accountable to the public, too. They report to the county executive.
Even still, Hoepfner is was named the head of the county road division.
While Complete Streets policies and ordinances are popping up all over Michigan, there are none in Macomb County.
That might change according to this article in the Advisor & Source Newspapers:
Utica Mayor Jacqueline Noonan has asked City Attorney William McGrail to look into developing an ordinance based on the “Complete Streets” program, which has already taken root in several Michigan communities.
“This is an important issue and we should take a position on it,” Noonan told the Utica City Council on Dec. 14. “We should set ourselves up to do what seems to be the wave of the future – transportation for the human beings involved.”
“Complete Streets highlights that any improvement should speak to the issue of not just vehicular traffic but pedestrian and bicycle traffic as well,” Noonan said. “It also pays attention to transit development, such as the railroad that runs through this city. All of these issues are brought into play in the movement called Complete Streets.”
Could Utica lead the way to bike friendliness in Utica?
Despite the positive words from Utica, its more likely that the first bike lanes in Macomb County just south of Selfridge. They would be part of the Lake St. Clair Shoreline Trail project. This project includes a bike lanes along portions of S. River Road, Bridgeview, and N. River Road. The bike lanes connect Jefferson Avenue with the planned shared-use path along the east border of the Selfridge golf course and along the shoreline.
The county’s Request for Quotes (PDF) from last September does provide some additional details on the project.
It remains to be seen what happens in Macomb County, but at least there are some signs of progress.
Perhaps upwards of 400 Santas participated in this fun Milwaukee ride which resembles a more sober Santarchy on two wheels.
Anyone up for organizing this in Detroit next year?
We heard a rumbling last week that a new director of MDOT would be named. That would have been a shame since Kirk Steudle has been very supportive of Complete Streets and non-motorized transportation. However, his support of the DRIC had cost him Republican support, to the point where some asked the state attorney general to look into allegations of MDOT publishing misleading data.
The Free Press is now reporting that he will continue to lead MDOT. We think this is a big positive for Michigan bicyclists.
The West Bloomfield rail trail just added 2.3 miles of new abandoned rail line according to the Spinal Column.
“This acquisition has been over three years in the making. We are excited that all the past work and negotiations will eventually result in a universally-accessible trail in a few years,” said Parks and Recreation Director Dan Navarre. “It’s wonderful that the grant funding made this acquisition possible by funding the majority of the purchase.”
We’re not sure when the trail will be resurfaced to match the existing trail conditions. The article makes it sound as though cyclists and walkers could use the trail before it is completed. That would be similar to what happened with the Clinton River Trail (part of the same railroad corridor) in Rochester Hills.
The Windsor Star is reporting on continued, thought apparently limited opposition to redeveloping Riverside Drive.
The project, which would see bike lanes and new pedestrian crossings installed across the city’s entire riverfront from east to west, would produce a huge improvement to the quality of life for a large number of Windsor residents at a relatively low price, while providing a major boost to the city’s image.
City planners had considered widening parts of the road, which was originally built on a narrow right-of-way to service cottages along the Detroit River.
But widening the road for vehicular traffic was rejected as unwanted by a majority of city residents, who cherish the road’s rustic, tree-lined character for jogging and cycling, not to mention Sunday drives with the top down.
That plans sounds like a Complete Street to us. We hope to see it built.