From MDOT:

I-275 Metro Trail (from Hines Drive to Michigan Avenue)

Public Open House

April 20, 2010 from?6 – 8 p.m

Fellows Creek Golf Club

2936 Lotz Road, Canton, MI 48188

The Michigan Department of Transportation and project team staff will host an open house to provide an overview of the project scope and boundaries of this approximately 7-mile section of the I-275 Metro Trail. This section is planned for reconstruction beginning this spring. This is the last open house planned prior to construction. There will be an opportunity to review the final design selections prior to construction.

For more information, please contact:

• Gorette Yung at 313-375-2400, yungg@michigan.gov
• Leah Groya at 313-961-3650, lgroya@wadetrim.com
• Jayson Nault at 810-220-2112, jayson.nault@tetratech.com

Below are photos taken from various projects around Detroit that are key components to a more bike friendly city.

Also, M-Live/Associated Press has published a more thorough story on the Midtown Loop, which is set to break ground this Thursday.

Construction starts next week on the Midtown Greenway, which by the fall will be an improved route for pedestrians and bicyclists around Detroit’s Cultural Center area and Wayne State University’s campus.

It’s the first part of a four-phase project that by 2012 is expected to link the area with Eastern Market and the Detroit riverfront. It will widen walkways, as well as add landscaping, bike racks, benches and small park areas.

“We wanted to create a more walkable district … and to beautify the neighborhood and to really help spur on more economic development,” Susan Mosey, president of the University Cultural Center Association, which is spearheading the project, said Friday.

Read the entire article

The Oakland Press has an article on the new pedestrian/bike bridge over Telegraph Road just north of Orchard Lake. This is a critical missing piece of the Clinton River Trail and will be very welcomed as there are no safe alternatives given the area’s poor road designs.

Bids were expected Thursday on the project with construction starting in late May and early June.

The bridge should be completed by Nov. 15, according to officials.

Mayor Leon Jukowski said the bridge would provide a safe place for people to enjoy the natural beauty of the parks and river trail.

“It’s a great opportunity for the city and it will connect us with our neighboring communities,” he said.

This project is being paid for through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) also know as the stimulus funding.

MDOT is hosting a public open house to discuss the I-275 Metro Trail from Hines Drive to Michigan Avenue.

March 30, 2010 from 6 – 8 p.m

Plymouth Township Hall, Town Hall Room, 9955 N. Haggerty Road, Plymouth, MI 48170

MDOT and project team staff will host an open house to provide an overview of the project scope and boundaries of this approximately 7-mile section of the I-275 Metro Trail. This section is planned for reconstruction beginning this spring. There will be an opportunity to provide written feedback and input on various elements of the project including trail signs and bridge aesthetics.

For more information, please contact:

• Gorette Yung at 313-375-2400, yungg@michigan.gov
• Leah Groya at 313-961-3650, lgroya@wadetrim.com
• Jayson Nault at 810-220-2112, jayson.nault@tetratech.com

A third and final public open house regarding this section of the trail will be scheduled for April.

Also, Associated Online published an article on the I-275 Metro Trail reconstruction.

The work includes a complete reconstruction of the path between Michigan Avenue and Hines Drive, [John Bailey] said.

“The path will be upgraded to present-day standards, including widening it to 14 feet, constructing proper drainage and slopes, and bringing it in line with ADA compliance,” he said.

It is good to know that you can have your residential drainage system repaired quite fast as well. Flo-Well Drainage Company can conduct a comprehensive drainage survey and fix everything asap.

Repairs will also be made to the section from Hines Drive north to Meadowbrook Road, which Bailey said isn?t as badly deteriorated as the southern section.

The work includes four new bridges, too: over Fellows Creek, Tonquish Creek, Wiles Drain and Smith Drain.

There’s also positive news on the north end of the I-275 Metro Trail. The Commerce, Walled Lake, and Wixom Trailway Management Council is applying for trail grant funding after a public hearing. The public comment was nearly unanimously in favor of converting this rail line to a non-motorized trail. The lone opposition came from a local business that receives material deliveries from the rail line. Receiving those deliveries by truck would increase their manufacturing costs.

The council hopes to purchase the 5.33 mile railroad and turn it into a paved, non-motorized pathway that will connect to the Huron Valley Trail and the West Bloomfield Trail.

This grant would match an MDOT grant and allow for land acquisition. Later grants would be sought to improve the trail surface, signage, etc.

From the Commerce, Walled Lake and Wixom Trailway Management Council:

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, pursuant to the Guidelines for the Development of Community Park, Recreation, Open Space, and Greenway Plans, Michigan Department of Natural Resources Grants Management, the Commerce, Walled Lake and Wixom Trailway Management Council will be holding a workshop and public hearing to discuss Council’s consideration to file a Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund (MNRTF) Grant application for financial assistance for acquisition of approximately 5.45 miles of railroad right of way, the purpose of which is to ultimately develop a non-motorized trail from Haggerty Road, in Commerce Township running east through the City of Walled Lake to the western city limits of Wixom. A map of the proposed trail and supporting documentation will be available at the meeting or before the meeting at the Commerce Township Planning Department located at 2009 Township Drive, Commerce Township, Michigan 48390.

NOTICE IS FURTHER GIVEN, that the Public Hearing and Workshop will be held at 5:00 P.M. on March 8, 2010 at the Commerce Township Hall, located at 2009 Township Drive, Commerce Township, MI 48390 to hear and consider public comments on the proposed MNRTF Grant Application.

All interested persons attending the hearing will be given an opportunity to be heard with respect to these matters. If you cannot attend this meeting, you may submit comments in writing to the Commerce, Walled Lake and Wixom Trailway Management Council c/o Commerce Township, 2009 Township Drive, Commerce Township, MI 48390 ATTN: Township Clerk or email kjackson@commercetwp.com until 5:00 PM the day of the meeting.