Conner Creek construction in Maheras Gentry Park

Conner Creek Greenway (Detroit)

The greenway segment from Jefferson to the Detroit River (at Mahera Gentry Park) should be completed this week. Most of this route is bike lanes, but there is also a new pathway through the park.

Clinton River Trail

The new  bridge over Telegraph Road in Pontiac will be completed this spring when they are able to pour the bridge’s concrete surface. It will remain closed until then.

Macomb Orchard Trail

The County expects that one closed bridge to be repaired this winter while the remainder of the trail is paved in the spring.

I-275 Metro Trail

MDOT construction and re-construction projects continue to move further along this pathway. From the north to the south:

• MDOT expects to build the trail between 14 Mile and Maple next year.
• The segment between 13 Mile and 14 Mile is nearly done. While the pathway is open, some landscaping work remains and won’t be completed until spring.
• MDOT and Novi will be developing the connection from 13 Mile Road to the I-275 Metro Trail at Meadowbrook.
• The trail maintenance from Meadowbrook to Hines Drive is completed and the trail is open.
• Construction on the segment from Hines Drive to Michigan Avenue continues. MDOT expects the trail to open next month.
• Construction is also underway from Michigan Avenue to I-94. That should be completed by October 2011.
• From I-94 to Sibley Road, MDOT is replacing 6 bridges. They do not have funding yet to improve the trail surface.
• There are no funded reconstruction projects yet for the I-275 path once it gets to Monroe County. That is actually in a different MDOT region. Monroe is very much interested in seeing this trail continued into Downtown Monroe, the Raisin River battlefield (War of 1812), and Sterling State Park.

Just catching up on some Detroit biking stories in the news on World Car Free Day…

Critical Mass Detroit

Last month, Real Detroit Weekly had some coverage on Detroit’s Critical Mass ride.

Biking in from the suburbs may not be an easy task, but once you make it down to Detroit you realize how friendly the city can be on two wheels. Every last Friday of the month, an ever-growing group of bikers take back the streets for a little ride called Critical Mass.

This first paragraph highlights one major point. Detroit’s Critical Mass ride is fun and is becoming hugely popular — but it’s not about taking back the streets. Detroit bicyclists already have it quite good on the streets.

If this Critical Mass were about making a statement for cyclists rights, it would be in the suburbs during rush hour. It would be in Rochester Hills, Canton, and Sterling Heights.

The ride is more like a mini-Tour de Troit without the food and T-shirt — and there’s nothing wrong with that.

Conner Creek Greenway Update

Model D has a brief greenway construction update from Detroit’s east side.

The Riverfront Terminus of the Conner Creek Greenway is currently being built. This segment follows Clairpointe from Jefferson south to Maheras Gentry Park and includes bike lanes and landscaping along Clairpointe and a new trail and landscaping on the west side of the park. Construction is slated to be complete by end of October.

This summer, another segment of the greenway, one mile of bike lanes along St. Jean between Jefferson and Mack, was completed. The next stretch will run alongside Mt. Olivet Cemetery on Conner. The entire trail system is slated to be complete in 2013.

Motor City Road Diets

The Free Press has been publishing excerpts from John Gallagher’s new book, Reimagining Detroit. Gallagher discusses road diets and how they can lead to more bike lanes and improved pedestrian safety.

We almost never focus on the wide-open spaces of our main streets. Making Woodward, Jefferson, Gratiot, and the other spoke streets nine lanes wide (three lanes for traffic in each direction, one in the middle for turning, and a lane along either curb for parking) may have made sense in the 1950s when the city boasted a population near two million people.

But with Detroit’s population less than half its 1950s-era peak, these main streets now are absurdly overbuilt for the amount of traffic they carry.

Pedestrians, particularly seniors or parents with children in tow, find it all but impossible to cross one of these nine-line gulfs before the light changes. By narrowing the streets from three traffic lanes in each direction to two — by putting many of Detroit’s streets on a road diet — the city could make it easier for pedestrians to cross.

Since the 1950′s, Detroit’s urban freeway network also pulled many cars off these main roads as well, hence the great biking conditions.

Biking: a central theme

The Hamilton Spectator reported on this year’s Ontario Bike Summit. Jeff Olson from Alta Planning gave a little plug for Detroit.

A biking ‘guru’ who helped transform Portland into a cycling oasis has offered his expertise to Hamilton, a city he believes has “progressive potential.”

Jeff Olson, partner at Alta Planning and Design and a speaker at yesterday’s Ontario Bike Summit 2010 in Burlington, said a number of U.S. cities are using bicycles as a central theme in their shift from manufacturing hubs to modern urban centres. Included in that list are Buffalo, Dayton, Detroit and Cleveland.

Olson did some consulting on Detroit greenways last year and was truly awestruck by the biking potential.

A young protester at the Palmer Park rally against closing Detroit parks

Complete Streets bills pass the House

House Bill 6151 passed on a 85 to 21 vote while House Bill 6152 passed 84 to 22. Both bills are now on their way to the Senate. This is great news, but we’re not done yet. Please contact your Michigan Senator and ask them to support both bills.

Michigan Ranked 10th for Obesity

The newest obesity report was just released.

Michigan was named the tenth most obese state in the country, according to the seventh annual F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America’s Future 2010 report from the Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF).

Obesity rates among youths ages 10-17 from the 2007 National Survey of Children’s Health (NSCH) also were included in the 2009 F as in Fat report; 12.4 percent of children were obese in the state, with the state ranking 41st out of the 50 states and D.C. for childhood obesity.

What’s interesting is Michigan’s youth obesity rank is 41st.

Detroit RiverWalk: A touch of nirvana

There’s a insightful Free Press opinion piece by Stephen Henderson.

We spent a big chunk of last Sunday, Father’s Day, on the RiverWalk, just a few blocks from where we live. …for my children, now 5 and nearly 7, this was just another slice of Detroit nirvana.

The riverfront is their very public backyard, where they ride bikes or scooters and marvel at the bellowing vessels headed for the Soo. They’ve seen a wedding. They’ve learned about ducks and geese and powerboats.

Their neighborhood is safe and full of nearby thrills.

Model D: Game changing projects

The Conner Creek Greenway is at #10 on this interesting list from Model D.

10. Conner Creek Greenway: Among the numerous bike lane and greenways projects around town, I chose to single this one out because of the fact that about a third of the 9-mile project, which will ultimately run contiguously from the Detroit River to Eight Mile by 2013, is already complete. The fact that the greenway taps into Creekside’s 140 acres of riverfront parks, Chandler Park and Mt. Olivet Cemetery and that it takes you pretty darn close to the haunted and awesome Two-Way Inn knocks this project out of the park.

Detroit Parks to remain open

The budget standoff between Detroit City Council and the Mayor’s office has been resolved. The $4.5 million cut to General Services has been restored. That cut would have eliminated 40 from the city’s grass cutting crew and kept parks from being mowed.

Sally Patrella from the Friends of Rouge Park posted the following on the Detroit Parks Coalition page on Facebook:

We did it. The mayor gave his budget amendment to City Council that restored half of the funding for parks and City Council approved it this afternoon. Mayor’s office says it is unlikely any parks will close now. President Pugh and Kenyatta agreed to work with this new coalition and Kenyatta is going to start a task force.

The Detroit Parks Coalition is having its second meeting next Wednesday, July 7 at 9 a.m. at the St. Luke Tabernacle, 19633 Joy Road (at Plainview 1 block east of Evergreen).

Had those 77 parks closed, it would likely have affected greenways and trails, including those at Rouge Park, Patton Park, and Palmer Park.

MTGA at Detroit RiverDays

The Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance had a booth at the Detroit RiverDays event this past weekend. ?It was a great opportunity to discuss greenways, bike lanes, and Complete Streets ?in Detroit. The most popular question? “How do I get to the Dequindre Cut.” The MTGA booth was staffed with help from the Detroit Department of Health and Wellness Promotion, the Detroit Eastside Community Collaborative, Villages CDC, and Southwest Detroit Business Association.

Conner Creek Greenways Update

Model D has an article about the recently complete bike lanes added to St. Jean, which add another mile to the Conner Creek Greenway. This Greenway is on Detroit’s east side and will be 9 miles when completed. It will run from the Detroit River to Eight Mile near Van Dyke.

Going Green in Warren

The city of Warren is also looking at how to continue the Conner Creek Greenway north of Eight Mile. Different on-road routes are being evaluated.

In addition, Todd Scott and Nancy Krupiarz of MTGA are featured this month on the city’s Going Green program on Warren cable television. The half-hour segment discusses biking, Complete Streets, and much more.

Serious Summer Leisure Rides

Last week the Metro Times continued their love affair with cycling by creating a fine list of places to ride throughout Metro Detroit. It does include Hines Drive and their summertime closures to motor vehicles. This is a great time for cyclists to take over the street. Happening since the Eighties, this type of car free event (called a Ciclovia) is now gaining in popularity across the U.S..

Construction season is upon us and there are many trail- or bike-related projects in the works. Here are some brief updates:

• Construction on the Clinton River Trail bridge over Telegraph in Pontiac is expected to begin in a month and be completed this year.
• The bridge construction which is causing weekday closures of the Dequindre Cut is apparently on schedule and should be completed by September.
• Atwater Street is also under construction between Rivard and Orleans in Detroit. When completed, we heard it will have bike lanes from the Ren Cen to Jos Campau.
• The city of Detroit is updating the bike lanes on Belle Isle and adding more on some of the internal roads thanks to some unexpected, but much welcomed grant funding.
• The contract for Wayne State University’s bike lane/streetscape project on Anthony Wayne Drive shows the project being completed by November.
• MTGA and others are still working with MDOT to try and get bike lanes on Michigan Avenue from Livernois to Rosa Parks in Corktown.
• Construction of the new MDOT trail along M-5 between 13 Mile and 14 Mile is underway — and it looks like the trail will be an awesome ride once completed.

And some non-construction updates:

• The city of Royal Oak has received their federal funding for their non-motorized planning efforts. We can expect them to start soon.
• The city of Novi has issued a Request for Proposals to develop a non-motorized plan.
• Wayne County has submitted an MDOT grant application which would extend the Conner Creek Greenway from the Mt. Olivet Cemetery to Eight Mile. This project is a mix of shared-use path and bike lanes.