Mt. Pleasant is a little outside of m-bike’s geographic range, but this recent editorial in the Morning Sun really speaks to an issue we face in Metro Detroit.

MDOT, instead of looking back at its storied past and pulling solutions out of the 1950s, needs to look to the future. The future is something called a complete street – with places for pedestrians and bicycles as well as motor vehicles.

Instead of cranking up the speed, a complete street calms the traffic. Instead of forcing people to zap across multiple lanes of traffic to make turning movements, it allows them to flow naturally.

It’s an unconventional solution, but it works. It’s not surprising that MDOT has been reluctant to propose an unconventional answer, because unconventional ideas don’t seem to go over real well in Michigan.

In Metro Detroit the issue has been less with MDOT and more with cities and road commissions, such as the Road Commission for Oakland County. They give vehicle mobility a higher priority than safe bicycling and walking.

But the Michigan Complete Streets movement is starting to take hold. Cities like Lansing and Flint are leading the way.

We certainly could use more Complete Streets editorials like the Morning Sun’s.

The federal transportation bill (SAFETEA-LU) contained a provision whereas unspent transportation money could be pulled back from the states. It’s called a rescission and it took affect at the end of last month.

According to the Federal Highway Administration, Michigan is set to lose nearly $257 million in transportation funding.

Some of these transportation funds help us build non-motorized facilities and trails.

The biggest funding source is Transportation Enhancements. It’s helped build trails like the Conner Creek Greenways and Clinton River Trail. It’s also helping fund new bike lanes across Michigan.

According to an MDOT estimate, that fund is set to $13.1 million due to the rescission.

Another funding source is the Recreational Trails Program, which is administered by the DNR. With a rescission, the fund could lose $1.9 million.

Other federal transportations programs such as Safe Routes to School may also lose money.

Michigan is not alone on this. Other states are making similar cuts. Congress could override this rescission, but it’s not looking too likely at this time.

The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) has a training program for traffic engineers and planners that centers around designing roads for cycling. This year that program came to downtown Detroit.

What makes this program so effective is it’s led by John LaPlante, inarguably America’s leading expert in bicycle facility design. LaPlante is the primary author of the AASHTO guidelines for the development of bicycle facilities. He’s also a key figure in bicycle signage standards (via the MUTCD from the FHWA) and AASHTO’s pedestrian facilities design guidelines.

Laplante worked for the city of Chicago for 30 years include a stint as the Acting Commissioner of Transportation. In this role he was responsible for the planning, design and construction of all roads, bridges and mass transit facilities in the city of Chicago including their bicycle network.

Also leading the training class was Michael Amsden, the Bikeways Planner for the city of Chicago. Mike led us on a six-mile bike tour that made planned stops where he discussed options for improving the bike-friendliness of streets and intersections. Those stops included the mysteriously appearing and disappearing bike lane along Atwater and the super scary Broadway/Gratiot/Randolph intersection.

Representatives from the city of Detroit (5!), Wayne County, SEMCOG, Royal Oak, Corktown, MDOT and others were in attendance. Extra kudos go to the city of Detroit staff since the class coincided with the city’s first unpaid furlough.

Nearly all of the training was from the MUTCD and soon-to-be-release updated AASHTO bicycle guidelines.

One common theme was it’s best to implement bicycle facilities without removing much on-street parking. Removing parking only makes enemies and there usually are alternatives.

For example, some low-volume roads with on-street parking cannot accomodate bike lanes because they are not wide enough. If the parking is sporadic, one could simply stripe 7 foot parking lanes and add bike route signage. Most of the time, bikes would have access to an entire 7 foot lane, and with limited traffic, could easily skirt around parked cars. This is similar to Lincoln in Birmingham, except there should not be bollards (i.e. posts) in the road.

LaPlante also reinforced the message that in most cases sidepaths should not be built and designated for bicyclists. I noted that many Oakland County communities, including Oakland County itself, called sidepaths “safety paths.” LaPlante response was, “Safety paths? That’s an oxymoron.”

A big thanks goes to John Stroh III and his staff for providing an excellent meeting location at the Stroh River Place along the Detroit RiverWalk.

Here is our Detroit bike route (which we mostly followed) along with photos. You’ll likely want to view the map in a larger window in order to see the photos.

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.

The 44-mile long I-275 Bike Path is getting some love.

For the next two Saturdays, the Friends of the I-275 Bike Path are hosting trail cleanup days. The details are below.

If you ever ride on the I-275 Pathway, now is the time to pitch in and get it in shape for the spring & summer riding season! The Friends of the I-275 Pathway are organizing cleanup dates the next two weekends.

The first is Saturday, April 18th, from 9 a.m. to noon. We’ll be gathering on the west side of the Duo-gard parking lot in Canton Twp. at 40442 Koppernick (just east of Haggerty).

The second is the following Saturday, April 25th, same time. We’ll meet up at the rest area on northbound I-275 north of Michigan Ave.

Power tools are not permitted, so bring brooms, rakes, shovels, pruners, tree-loppers, or any kind of hand tool to trim trees, cut back brush and pick up litter. Wear long sleeves and pants. Water and a light snack will be provided. In case of rain, the workdays will be pushed back to the following Sunday.

If you have any questions contact Dave Duffield (248-994-3074, dduffield@lmb.org)

And as we mentioned earlier, this trail is receiving economic stimulus funding for some significant and much needed reconstruction. There’s $4 million to start with a possibility of getting another $5 million later.

Today Metromode ran an article with some additional details how what reconstruction will occur and where.

The Michigan Department of Transportation plans to spend about $4 million rebuilding portions of the hiking/biking path along I-275 in Plymouth and Canton townships. The improvements will include new signage for the trail and bringing it up to Americans with Disability Act standards.

The I-275 Bike Path has suffered a lot of wear and tear since it was built in the 1970s. Its 44 miles stretching between Northville and Frenchtown Township have watched erosion, decay and mother nature wreak havoc on the trail, making some parts impassable.

Someday this trail is going to be the fundamental piece of a 200-mile trail beltway encircling Metro Detroit. With funding and volunteer help, we can make this a reality.