Nancy Krupiarz from Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance is reminding everyone that the last two public input sessions for the I-275 Pathway are now scheduled.

The first one will be on Tuesday, July 8th from 5-8 p.m. at the Freedom Hall in Canton Township (which is their township hall). The second one will be on Thursday, July 10th from 5-8 p.m. at the Frenchtown Township Hall on the Monroe County end of the pathway.

These are the last chances for input before the I-275 bike path report becomes the official blueprint for restoration.

They don’t disappoint. The International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) puts on an incredibly valuable and inspiring world summit every couple years. This year’s in Park City, Utah continued that winning streak.

Of course, how can you go wrong when you combine perfect weather, cold beers, the world’s foremost mountain bike advocates and Park City’s 300 miles of singletrack?

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Today finds me flying to Park City, Utah to participate in the International Mountain Bicycling Association’s (IMBA) 2008 World Summit. It’s going to be a full three days of networking, attending training sessions, and hitting the trails.

I’m hoping to provide updates on this site as the Summit progresses.

On Thursday I’m presenting a session with IMBA board member John Bliss. John and are will be discussing Developing Effective Club Leadership and Boards.

The Free Press ran a couple great articles on biking and trails today.

From Trails are the new amenity:

The growing network of recreational trails in metro Detroit is becoming a magnet for home builders and business owners who are capitalizing on the popularity of natural pathways that link communities and offer a reprieve from sprawl.

“Everyone used to want to live near a golf course,” John Crumm, Macomb County’s program manager for planning and environmental services, said. “Now trails are becoming the most popular amenity.”

The demand to live close to trails is rising with the price of gas and a desire to get away, and it’s jacking up adjacent home values by an average of 15% to 20% in metro Detroit, according to home builders and economic development specialists.

And from 25 miles of paths and trails are being added in Detroit, suburbs:

Michiganders still call Detroit the Motor City, yet their state also is a leader in paths for nonmotorized transit. Michigan is second only to Wisconsin in rail trails, the routes on old rail lines, according to the national Rails-to-Trails Conservancy in Washington, D.C. Michigan has 1,491 rail-trail miles compared with Wisconsin’s 1,552 miles, the group says.

And new projects are forging ahead with federal transportation dollars, state oil and gas royalties in the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund and grants from the nonprofit Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan.

Boosters of these recreation routes say the investment is well worth it, as Michigan’s obesity rate climbs, roads clog with cars and gasoline streaks past $4 a gallon.

This just in from MTGA…

Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance is kicking off the final round of public input sessions on the recommendations for restoration and improvement of the I-275 Pathway on Saturday, May 31st from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Nankin Mills County Park. The session will be in conjunction with the regular “Saturday in the Park” event in which Hines Drive is closed to motorized but open to nonmotorized traffic.

Stop by at anytime during those hours and you will be able to view aerial images of the entire pathway together with all of the recommendations. All of the changes that have been discussed over the 5 preceding public input sessions have been taken into account in the work done by the engineering team contracted by the Michigan Dept. of Transportation.

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