Last week, the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan brought in Ian Lockwood, a traffic engineer from Glatting Jackson.  Ian was here to lead a multi-disciplinary team of experts to look at how we can improve the built environment on Detroit’s lower eastside.

One of the biggest benefits of these sessions is Ian provides the terminology and solutions to familiar urban design issues, e.g. super blocks, a city’s bone structure, etc.  He also emphasizes that cities exist to promote exchange.  That increasing transportation speeds limits exchange.  And when making decisions, we need to err on the side of place.

So, if you missed these sessions, you’re in luck because Ian has a video from an earlier presentation on-line (see below.)

He also has a PDF document that covers many of the same topics covered last week.  It’s called Transportation Prescription for Healthy Cities.

The Detroit News ran an article a couple weeks ago about Oakland County Parks completing a Trails Master Plan:

It’s always been a vision in Oakland County: a continuous, linked outdoor trail system that connects communities, downtowns and schools.

But gaps in the system — much of it built on top of old railroad lines — continue.

Bridging those gaps is a major focus of Oakland County’s first Trails Master Plan developed and released by county parks officials last month.

The Trails Master Plan is a beautiful and very professional document.  Electronic copies are available from the Oakland County web site.

And speaking of the Oakland County web site, it has been updated.  If you haven’t checked out their trails web page lately, you should.

It doesn’t seem all that long ago that a group of us were called together by Oakland County Parks in the late 90s.  While they had traditionally limited their involvement to fenced parks, they did note the momentum of trail development across the county.  Our group pushed them in that direction.  They’ve come a long way since then, which is great news for anyone who rides a horse, a bike, or simply walks.

Link: Oakland works to link trails, Detroit News

If you live, work and bike in Royal Oak — we need you on Monday, November 10th at 7:30 PM at City Hall (third floor).

Royal Oak City Environment Committee, the Sierra Club, and concerned local bicyclists are speaking before City Commission to ask for improved bicycle and pedestrian safety in Royal Oak.  In short we are asking them to develop a non-motorized transportation plan.

Here are some tips from Tom Regan, who’s down a lot of work getting us to this point:

We will speak at public comment, which is at the very start of the meeting, so you must be on-time.

Idea — Bike to the event and carry your bicycle helmet into the meeting. Hold your helmet when you speak at public comment.

The themes are very simple. You can address any one or more of these points when you speak:

• Royal Oak can be a dangerous place to ride a bike.
• All Royal Oak citizens will benefit if Royal Oak becomes a safer place to walk and ride a bike.
• Royal Oak should write a non-motorized transportation plan as a way to set community goals and reach them in an intelligent and efficient manner.

Be very brief, or take the whole 5 minutes, or just give your name and address and say “I would like Royal Oak to write a non-motorized transportation plan.” If even that sounds scary just stand next to someone else when they talk and hold your bike helmet!

The local Sierra Club has jumped into this effort with both feet. They are an extremely well-organized and active chapter, we are very fortunate to have their help. The Royal Oak Environment Committee has also endorsed the effort.

Please send your letters-to-the-editor now. There will be a sudden drop in letters with the election over, now is a good time to get published. Nothing long or involved is needed, just dash off something quick on how Royal Oak would benefit if it were safer for walking and biking:

• Royal Oak Mirror
• Royal Oak Review
• Royal Oak Daily Tribune
• Oakland Press

We look forward to seeing some helmets at Monday’s meeting.

This is why we love Model D.

While most of the Detroit media has not covered City Council’s glowing endorsement of the Non-Motorized Transportation Master Plan, Model D has published an article, hosted a speaker series, and has now made a video.

By the way, that cool building at the start of the video is home to Giffels-Webster, but it was originally built for making cigars — one of Detroit’s major industries prior to making automobiles.

DDOT to get Bike Racks

It began with a Transportation Riders United, MTGA, a bike petition, and others asking for bike racks on DDOT buses.

A bus rack manufacturer loaned DDOT some racks to try out on the Russell line.  Their Bikes on Buses (B.O.B.) program was started.  Meanwhile, DDOT requested funding to equip all of their buses with bike racks.

The great news is MDOT has approved that funding request.  Over a three-year period, all of DDOT line haul buses will get bike racks.

Model D Speaker Series: Bikes + Transit

Next Tuesday, October 21st, the Model D Speaker Series welcomes John Hertel and Scott Clein to the Motor CIty Movie House at the Russell Industrial Center.  The event begins at 5 PM with the presentations starting at 5:30 PM.

From Model D:

Hertel is the local transit czar, and will speak on the the Regional Transportation Coordinating Council’s recently released transit plan for Southeastern Michigan, including a light rail or streetcar system down Woodward Avenue. (Hear more about it here from Model D Radio/Michigan Now reporter Chris McCarrus.)

Clein is an engineer with  Giffels-Webster, the firm which recently helped design a non-motorized plan that calls for more than 400 miles of bike lanes in Detroit. The plan recently got approval from Detroit City Council. Read more about it here.

To sign up for this free event or to get directions, visit Model D.

We’ll see you there!