Below is a press release from the Friends of the Clinton River Trail. Note that the directions are for those arriving via a motorized vehicle.

Ribbon Cutting Event: Clinton River Trail Bridge over Telegraph Road

After years of planning and design work, the completion of a significant asset to the Clinton River Trail is opening to traffic, the Clinton River Trail Bridge over Telegraph Road in the City of Pontiac. On Thursday, June 16, 2011 at 10 AM, the Friends of the Clinton Trail, Pontiac?s Mayor & City Council, trail enthusiasts, as well as a number of stakeholders will gather on the westside of the bridge to commemorate this momentous event. The public is invited to attend.

A few short years ago, a bridge over Telegraph to carry non-motorized users in a safe & efficient manner along the Clinton River Trail was a pipe dream. This dream has come to fruition as a result of individuals who had a mindset and a commitment to making it happen. The bridge crosses Telegraph Road just north of the Orchard Lake Road crossing. For the ribbon cutting, take Orchard Lake Road westbound from Telegraph, an immediate right on Pontiac Drive and it?s approximately 275 yards ahead on the right.

Great credit goes to the City of Pontiac?s foresight and initiative to accomplish this construction. With a shovel ready plan and engineering design they were awarded money from the American Recovery and Investment Act to accomplish the actual construction of the bridge. Official groundbreaking took place August 12, 2010.

The Clinton River Trail is a 16 mile trail spanning five communities in Oakland County; Rochester, Rochester Hills, Auburn Hills, Pontiac and Sylvan Lake. The trail has significant connections to the east with the Macomb Orchard Trail and to the west with the West Bloomfield Trail. It also has a northern connection through Rochester to the Paint Creek Trail. The Clinton River Trail and its neighboring trails are key links in a shore to shore system which will cross Michigan from Lake Huron to Lake Michigan.

Here are various bike-related updates from around the state and Metro Detroit area —

Model D Speaker Series: Urban Mobility

If you missed this event, don’t worry. Jason Rzucidlo has a nice writeup with photos.

Of course, Model D also covered the event.

Marja Winters, deputy director of the city’s Planning and Development department, said non-motorized transit options are an essential component to the mayor’s Detroit Works Project. Credit the growing movement across the country to urban areas, often for the diversity of options a city affords. “The quality of place is becoming the number one determining factor,” she said. “And ranking high in the decision-making process is the notion of alternative forms of transit.”

We probably would not have heard similar quotes from Detroit’s planning department just a few years ago. This really signals the great deal of progress and increased awareness that has happened during that time.

Bicycle Friendly State rankings

Michigan continues to drop in the state rankings developed by the League of American Bicyclists. The Mitten state is now ranked 22nd and was given a “D”.

This 10 spot drop since 2008 is likely attributable to new ranking criteria and the lack of progress in key areas — progress that other states have made. Michigan received an “F” score in the categories of Infrastructure, Evaluation & Planning, and Enforcement.

Ride challenge for MDOT Director

With the U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood biking to work yesterday, we suggested MDOT’s Director Kirk Steudle could do the same via Twitter.

MDOT responded with “I forwarded your tweet to Dir. Steudle to let him know. Thanks! ”

GM’s Akerson calls for fuel tax increase

The unwillingness in Washington DC and Lansing to increase fuel taxes has helped led to a transportation funding crisis. (Yeah, sprawl and the lack of regional planning in Metro Detroit are factors as well.)

Bill Ford Jr. has previously advocated for a fuel tax increase. Now, so to has GM’s CEO Dan Akerson according to this Detroit News article.

A government-imposed tax hike, Akerson believes, will prompt more people to buy small cars and do more good for the environment than forcing automakers to comply with higher gas-mileage standards.

“You know what I’d rather have them do — this will make my Republican friends puke — as gas is going to go down here now, we ought to just slap a 50-cent or a dollar tax on a gallon of gas,” Akerson said.

“People will start buying more Cruzes and they will start buying less Suburbans.”

An increased fuel tax can also encourage more people to bike, walk, and use public transit, while providing improved funding.

I-275 Metro Trail

There was a reopening ceremony for a portion of the I-275 bike path on Saturday. We weren’t there, but the Detroit Free Press was. The I-275 path will continue to be expanded northward as the southern portion is rebuilt and reopened. You can stray up to date with the progress by visiting the Friends of the I-275 Pathway on Facebook.

Michigan Airlines Rail-Trail

The Spinal Column is reporting that the Surface Transportation Board has denied a quick abandonment for the rail corridor that many hope will soon become a trail.

STB board members denied Michigan Air-Line Railway’s petition because it didn’t “provide the Board with sufficient evidence regarding the revenues and costs associated with the line, thereby making it impossible to determine what burden, if any, (Michigan Air-Line) Railway incurs in continuing to operate the line.”

Nevertheless, Michigan Air-Line Railway still hopes to get the STB’s approval to abandon the railroad, therefore allowing the trail project to move forward.

“We’re still moving forward with the grant applications,” said Commerce Township Planner Kathleen Jackson. “The NRTF board doesn’t make the grant decision until December, and (Michigan Air-Line Railway) hopes to have an answer by then.”

We do hope this gets resolved prior to the Natural Resource Trust Fund grant decision is made in December. This is the third attempt at getting this grant which will help pay for most of the property.

Last week City Council unanimously passed a resolution endorsing a Detroit Parks and Trail Day.

Detroit Parks and Trails Day will be held in conjunction with National Trails Day on the first Saturday in June (June 4, 2011). This is a perfect day for Detroiters to come out and celebrate Detroit’s vast parks and trails. This can be done in many forms from playing a ball game to cleaning up the park. The key is that the green space is being celebrated and utilized!

On Facebook, Evan Major suggesting visiting some of Detroit’s west side parks and trails.

Be sure and check out the mountain bike trail at Rouge Park and the Nature Trail at Eliza Howell! Friends of the Rouge Friends of Eliza Howell Park Great views of the river from both!

While we don’t have a final copy of the official resolution, we do have any earlier draft on which the official version was based.

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I spent time last week at the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy’s Urban Pathways Initiative in Cleveland, Ohio. This was their second summit with last year’s being in New Orleans.

This was a very good opportunity to learn what others are doing to making biking and walking more prevalent in urban centers primarily through building trails. Too often trail building discussions focus on the easier-to-implement trails in more rural or suburban environments. This conference looks at trail building in urban areas where greater density and land use creates more challenges.

Also, this pathways summit was an opportunity to present on all our positive efforts in Detroit. There was a Detroit-specific panel while I presented on another regarding stewardship and partnership.

Here are some of the big takeaways.

Building Diversity

The U.S. bicycle advocacy movement is mostly white. Some national organizations talk the talk, but it seems only the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy is walking the walk. They are not only sensitive to the lack of diversity, they’re are trying to do something about it – though they admittedly acknowledge that they have much to learn.

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (RTC) advocates for equitable investment in underserved communities while promoting the health, transportation and environmental benefits of trail use. RTC staff has engaged local partners, focusing on programs and improvements that enhance access and foster community ownership of trails in urban areas.

There was a session on lessons learned in communities of color. It brought forward some interesting perspectives from Compton, Camden, Milwaukee, and more. Much of the discussion was on increasing participation in bicycling and less on diversifying our organizations, which is also critical.

Pedal for Prizes

This was one of the more unique bike-oriented events we heard about. It’s like an alley cat with less mayhem that can build support for local business.

Registration will begin at 11:30am, and riders will be sent off with their maps and stamp cards in tow at 12:30pm sharp.  Ride your bike to as many of our twenty-two destinations as you’d like until 3pm.  Make your way back to Loew Park by 3:30pm to turn in your card for raffle tickets that you can put towards any of seventy-five prizes valued anywhere between $10 and $625 that will be displayed on a table.

There is more information on the Pedal for Prizes web site.

Cleveland, Ohio

In my short stay, Cleveland struck me as a smaller, cleaner, less vacant city with better transit. On the flip side, their Lakefront Bikeway was disappointing. The pavement condition was horrific.

However, they do have tremendous amount of bike parking within their downtown. It was mostly simple, no-nonsense loops that just work.

I also visited their Morgana Run trail, which is quite promising except for their road crossing treatments. It seems Detroit’s traffic engineers are much further ahead when it comes to on-road designs.

Another section of the Conner Creek Greenway was opened yesterday in Detroit on Arbor Day — a holiday for tree planting created by a J. Sterling Morton, a Michigan Wolverine from Monroe, Michigan.

The event at Maheras Gentry Park began with a parade, music, and a long line of kids from the Detroit Merit Charter Academy. The kids were dressed in frog costumes they had made earlier. The frog theme was a nod to the parks historic condition as marshland. It was an amazing site to see.

Following the parade, remarks were made by those who helped make this greenway possible (i.e. the funders): Karla Hall of the DTE Energy Foundation, Tony Kratofil of MDOT, and Tom Woiwode from the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan.

During his remarks, Kratofil announced MDOT’s commitment to funding the next portion of the Conner Creek Greenway. That portion is along Conner Avenue from McNichols to Eight Mile. That project includes a new section of sidewalks, bike lanes, bike routes, and some landscape improvements.

Wayne County Commissioners Tim Killeen and Bernard Parker also presented a resolution from the commission as well.

The new sections of greenway had been mostly completed late last year. That included bike lanes from Jefferson to Maheras Gentry Park along Clairpointe and a shared-use path from the park entrance to the existing paths near the river. The bike lanes on St. Jean built earlier last year were also part of the opening celebration.

Crain’s Detroit Business and Model D has media coverage prior to the event, while TV20 News has post-event coverage.