Last night, city councilwoman Melanie Piana’s tweeted, “Tonight, Ferndale city council unanimously adopted a Complete Streets ordinance.”

Congratulations, Ferndale!

They join Berkley and Novi as the three Oakland County communities with Complete Streets ordinances or resolutions.

Just when we thought it was safe to publish a collection of recent news stories on biking in southern Oakland County communities…

Today the Daily Tribune has an article, Royal Oak, Berkley work to make cities biker friendly.

The wheels of government are catching up to cyclists determined to use pedal power as their mode of transportation whenever possible.

Now that’s a lead in statement we need to read more often in Oakland County!

And we need more political leaders like Berkley councilmembers Steve Baker and Lisa Platt Auensen. The Tribune had this quote from Baker.

“To me, it’s about having a road system designed for everybody regardless of age and ability,” Berkley city Councilman Steven Baker said. “An incomplete street moves cars from Point A to B efficiently. A complete street moves people from point A to B. That’s a subtle but important difference for anybody riding a bike, pushing a stroller and using a walker, cane or wheelchair.”

Perhaps one point that was missed is Complete Streets are not just some local idea being pushed by those crazy cyclists. It’s a national movement which is backed but a large, diverse group. For instance, the National Association of REALTORS is a major sponsor. Health organizations, such as the American Heart Association, are supporters.

And AARP has been a huge advocate for Complete Streets. If you live in a community with incomplete streets (and sub-optimal transit options), driving becomes a requirement for mobility. A 2007 survey of seniors found that they feared losing their driver’s license much more than they feared dying.

The Tribune also mentioned last night’s Progressive Bike and Dine between Royal Oak and Berkley. Despite the chilly weather, there was a very decent turnout of spirited residents.

The ride started with drinks at Lily’s Seafood, then pizza at Amici’s, and a meal at the Royal Oak Brewery. Even though we passed on desserts, we likely consumed more calories than we burned.

No problem. It was a lot of fun.

We’ve just received this threat of legal action via email for our post on the Thunderdrome event.

The gist of the email:

While you may have your own motives for trying to interfere with this event, or cause its participants to seek refunds or avoid the event, we take this matter very seriously.  First, your article publishes that the organizers have made false statements to the participants and the public.  No false statements were made.  Also, your post states that the event “serves beer.”  Your statement is factually false.  No beer will be “served” at this event.  You state that the organizers do not have liability insurance for their event.  This is also false.

Your public statements were made to intentionally portray the event organizers as acting irresponsibly, fraudulently and illegally.  Those statements impugn the integrity of their business reputations.   In my opinion, your statements are slanderous per se and could subject you to legal liability.  Our belief is that your posting was intentionally made to attempt to cause participants, registered and still considering arriving at the event on event day, to avoid this event and look with impunity upon future events to be held by these organizers.

What is truly unfortunate here is that you have attempted to interfere with, and have denigrated, an event that was organized, planned and paid for by people who acted solely to hold an event to benefit Detroit and provide some fun to its participants.

This message is a formal demand to immediately remove your defamatory posting and publish an equivalent retraction.  If you choose not to do so, legal action may be taken against you.

Govern yourself accordingly.

What’s interesting about this email is they claim we’re “trying to interfere” with the event when in fact we helped. As we mentioned, we provided them with the Recreation Department contact and some tips on where to look for insurance. We passed along information from the Wolverine Cycling Club about their structural concerns regarding the track.

We have the emails from both the organizers and recreation department. We reported the facts.

Apparently now we need to seek legal counsel ourselves.

At last nights Detroit Light Rail public workshop, we crossed paths with Steve Baker, a Berkley City Commissioner.

His good news?

The city of Berkley passed a Complete Streets resolution just last week.

“This is not a requirement for us to rip up existing roads and start over,” Baker said. “A Complete Streets policy, and our upcoming Master Plan amendments, is a win-win for Berkley. This better positions Berkley to compete for scarce funding resources and grants, and it helps to further enhance the quality of life for our residents, businesses, and visitors.”

The Michigan Complete Streets Coalition web site also has the resolution and the very nice, localized presentation on Complete Streets.

Congratulations, Berkley!

A buried Hummer in Detroit

It makes sense that the cars-are-satan crowd are naturally inclined to join forces with those promoting bicycling. As one might expect, we haven’t seen much of the former in the Motor City — or at least we know to tone down the rhetoric a bit.

That said, here’s one example of a little push back from a Seattle motorist — a clever and seemingly light-hearted column from Crosscut.com called Beep-beep: a cars-user’s manifesto.

Although the article has its funny moments, including referencing lycra cycling outfits as leotards, it does finish with a little more seriousness.

Weaning ourselves from the automobile does not require us to treat cars as mechanical demons from an environmentally profligate past. Carrying on an anti-car crusade may curry favor with a younger crowd that lacks appreciation for anything that can’t be held in one’s palm or stuck in one’s ear. But it’s hardly the way to advance the serious conversation we all have to be engaged in, regarding a more environmentally sensitive future.

Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised by this message.

The column’s author, Hubert G. Locke is a former Detroiter.