Did you catch today’s discussion on Detroit’s Complete Street effort? It was on WDET’s Craig Fahle Show.

If you missed it, you can still listen to the podcast. The segment on Complete Streets begins about 54 minutes into the program.

Earlier today, Governor Jennifer Granholm had a ceremonial signing of Michigan’s Complete Streets legislation at the Capitol. We had a roomful of supporters from the Michigan Complete Streets coalition as well as State Representatives (and bill sponsors) Pam Byrnes and Jon Switalski.

The Governor is an active cyclist and pedestrian — and noted how blessed Michigan is for trails.

This is just a reminder that the city of Detroit wants to know if you support Complete Streets in the Motor City.

If so, it’s easy to register your support and you don’ t need to be a city resident. It only takes a minute.

For more information on Detroit’s Complete Streets effort, visit the Detroit Health and Wellness Promotion (DHWP) web site.

One of DHWP’s main objectives is to support and promote healthy and safe lifestyles; that includes physical activity such as walking and biking. Safe, community-centered roads and streets help encourage these healthy lifestyle choices. Thankfully, Detroit has established a Complete Streets project to build better routes for all Detroit residents.

DHWP is anticipating having a Complete Streets ordinance before the city council before next Spring.

Congratulations to Robert Burns Elementary in Detroit for its recent Safe Routes to School grant.

Here’s the official announcement from MDOT:

The Heritage Newspaper’s Press and Guide had a recent article on greenways in Metro Detroit.

It’s a good article with a focus more on the Dearborn, Detroit, and Downriver areas.

Still, we’re a little unclear about some statements.

Detroit is leading the way in the endeavor, and currently has more greenways than any other city in the country, quite a change for a city that built its reputation on the automobile. In Detroit’s favor, it is a city with many, many miles of unused railways, which advocates hope will eventually be converted totally to greenways.

We’re not sure the city of Detroit has more greenways than any other city, but it could very well be among the leaders from an investment perspective.

And this is a great quote from Tom Woiwode of the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan.

“Ultimately, the goal of the GreenWays Initiative is to connect all the communities in southeast Michigan and to link the system with projects outside the region,” said Woiwode. “In the meantime, watching as greenways are embraced by a region known for the automobile continues to be a pleasure.”

The article does end on a flat note.

“Every day, we are a little closer to being able to travel the whole tri-county area without ever setting foot on a road.”

That’s neither true nor realistic — and not even desirable. Many of the planned greenways in Detroit are partially, if not 100% on the road.

Riding on roads is not a bad thing to be avoided. What we need to avoid is building roads that don’t safely accommodate bicyclists. We need Complete Streets.

Chances are we’re not building a greenway to your front door. Or your school. Or your work. We just need to fix the roads between your starting and ending points.

Please take 10 minutes to complete this survey on greenways, bike lanes, and more in Detroit. The survey only runs through Wednesday! For more information on this project, visit the Villages CDC web site.

Dear Friends,

Your participation in a survey is requested to assist in the planning of a network of greenways in the Greater Riverfront East District of Detroit. This area is also known as the Lower Eastside. Its boundaries are the Detroit River to the south, Mack Avenue to the north, the Dequindre Cut to the west, and Alter Road to the east.

The survey should take about 10 minutes to complete. The survey will run until September 1, 2010. Please feel free to share this survey with others whom you think would be interested.

Please click on following link to complete the survey:

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/765DW9R

Thank you for your time and participation.

The Greater Riverfront East Environmental Network (GREEN) Task Force

P.S. If you would like to receive paper copies of this survey, or if you have a question, please contact:

Sheu-Jane Gallagher
The Villages CDC
theVillagesofDetroit@gmail.com