Here are our four favorite new racks and rack designs for 2012 in no specific order.

• The bike-shaped silver racks are being installed by DDOT across the city at various bus stops and DDOT facilities.
• The Green Dot Stables, located along the Lafayette bike lanes has a very cool custom horse-shaped rack to fit with their equestrian-themed restaurant.
• We’re guessing the “Live, Work, Play” racks are from the Downtown Detroit Partnership?(DDP).
• These custom inverted-U racks have been installed all around Corktown by the Resident’s Council. There are in addition to the ones installed by the Southwest Detroit Business Association.

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Really? And what about people living in Detroit today without a car?

We’ve many Detroiters that for one reason or another, don’t have a car. Some might prefer getting a car and some don’t. Everyone has different needs, resources, and priorities.

Of course being without a car is easier in some parts of Detroit than others.

One amenity that making it easier for some is Zip Cars at Wayne State. Having simple access to an on-demand rental car can address those times when biking, walking, or transit won’t cut it. Wayne Students and staff get special pricing, but community members can use the program as well.

And it’s been very successful. Wayne State has added cars to the fleet.

Detroit Unspun recently uploaded this video which highlights a car-free Alex Briggs. Briggs gives some interesting perspective on lifestyle changes that have made biking a transportation choice he can embrace in Detroit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2It_J_nZ7HU

Yes, Alex. Those Trumbull bike lanes are coming both this year and next.

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This is Detroit Bikes. They are creating a simple, low-cost, practical urban bikes that should retail for just under $500. And they expect to be building them in the city of Detroit – up to 100 a day if all goes as planned.

Detroit Bikes is starting to get noticed. The Detroit News and Crain’s Detroit Business both wrote about the new company and its founder, Zak Pashak, an entrepreneur from Calgary.

Pashak told the News, “Henry Ford’s goal was to create affordable, reliable transportation. That’s my goal.”

However, the best, more comprehensive coverage of the new company is on Detroit Make it Here.

Pashak is intent on taking advantage of the industrial opportunity here. He said that he doesn’t think he would have been able to easily find welders and machinists in Calgary and that in Detroit he can buy an industrial building for $300,000 that would cost more than $2 million in his native city.

Manufacturing bicycles “doesn’t seem like the kind of thing I could start in Calgary,” Pashak said.

It’s possible to produce affordable, American-made bikes in volume, especially in Detroit, he said.

This is really exciting. We’re not sure the last time bicycles were built in earnest within the city of Detroit.

We are sure about wanting to buy one of these.

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And we’ve got a lot of catching up to do.

Huffington Post Detroit series

This really has been a special series of three articles on Detroit bicycling that break the standard templates used before. These are not articles about lycra-clad club riders going for a weekend recreational tour. It’s about Detroiters, many of whom are relying on bicycles as transportation.

Detroit’s Bicycling Booming To Meet Transportation, Recreation Needs

Joe Simpson bikes out of necessity. The 61-year-old used to work for the nonprofit Focus: Hope, but he’s currently unemployed. “Cars are an inconvenience on my economic level,” he explained. “I can get into the city by bike at least as fast as I can by bus, and that’s not even considering the wait for the bus.”

“This is my transportation, that’s why I bike,” Simpson said. “It’s not exercise. It’s not a hobby. That’s my involvement in bike culture right there.”

Detroit Bike Lanes Expand, Giving Cyclists New Options

[Detroit's Department of Public Works director Ron] Brundidge said Detroit is aggressively building bike lanes to promote a healthy lifestyle and to encourage environmentally conscious behavior. “We just feel it’s our responsibility to do everything we can to have our citizens have the option and ability to get out there and bike,” Brundidge said.

Detroit Bike Shops, Community Spaces Lend Momentum To Cycling

Some of these two-wheel havens have only been around for a few years, others have been solid pillars of their neighborhoods for decades. From fixing gears to fixed-gears, each of the following spaces offers a unique spin on what what cycling means to Motown.

dbusiness journal

The Motor City Goes Motorless

So what makes Detroit, a city built for four-wheeled traffic, so bike-friendly?

“Number one, it’s the abundance of infrastructure,” says Karen Gage, co-owner of The Wheelhouse in Detroit. “The city was built for (two) million people but there are less than a million now, so we have lots of roads and not a lot of traffic.”

The South End

Motor City slowly becomes bicycle friendly

Detroit is also filled with neighborhoods that are fascinating to ride through. Corktown, home of the famously abandoned Michigan Central Station; Indian Village, an east side neighborhood known for its historic homes; and McDougall-Hunt, the small neighborhood where the Heidelberg Project is located.

More interesting neighborhoods include: Eastern Market, West Side Industrial, Milwaukee Junction, New Center and Wayne State’s very own Midtown, among many others.

Changing Gears (and Forbes)

On Earth Day, Turning The Motor City Into Cycle City

“Detroit has a very cool, strong cyclist culture,” says Eli Bayless, the Tigers’ director of promotions and in-game operations.

Modeshift

Re-designing Detroit means re-thinking the city

MS: What can you say about road diets and bike lanes contributing toward the effort?

JG:?We’re talking about using excess road capacity to create something like bike lanes or greenways or wider sidewalks. They’re recreational venues, they tend to be venues for economic development since people develop things along those routes.

We’re talking about creating sort of landmarks within neighborhoods so you have one big thing like the Riverwalk meets a smaller one that’s coming into it and that creates a lot of venues where people can get together.

This is all about strategies to connect people in different neighborhood within neighborhoods and connecting different neighborhoods to each other through these intervention strategies which are not just the typical build roads, build highways, build stadiums and casinos but doing some of the non-traditional stuff.

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It was much more than a group of cyclists. It was a major social club, which was reflected in their final clubhouse on Adams, where Comerica Park is today.

But they did more than ride bicycles. They hosted bike races on the national circuit. They held major boxing matches. Their annual circus became the forerunner to the Shrine Circus.

And they played semi-professional baseball.

In 1903, A. S. Burkhardt managed the Wheelmen’s baseball team and arranged an exhibition baseball game against the Detroit Tigers.

It was October 2nd, 1903 and the Tiger’s last game for the year. They’d finished the year in fifth place with 65 wins and 71 losses. With the players season over, this game was an opportunity to send them off with a little extra money.

According to the Detroit Free Press, the Wheelmen’s team had been “greatly strengthened for this game and [hoped] to give the American leaguers an argument.”

Pitching for the Tigers was their ace George Mullin, who had a 19 and 16 record, a 2.25 ERA, and 170 strikeouts. Mullin still holds records with the Tigers for most innings pitched during a season and all-time. He has the second most wins in Tiger’s history. He also helped pitch the Tigers to three Pennants (1907-1909) along side teammates Ty Cobb and Sam Crawford.

The Free Press added that having Mullin on the mound, made “the outlook for any great acquisition of cycling tallies very dubious.”

Play Ball

The game was played at Bennett Park, at the corner of Trumbull and Michigan. (In 1912 the Park eventually became Navin Field then Briggs Stadium and Tiger Stadium.)

The threatening weather and muddy conditions kept many spectators away and the Tigers won, 5 to 3.

Wheelmen pitcher Archie Neuschafer “pitched well” but his team couldn’t hit Mullin’s pitches when it counted. They left 15 men on base.

The Free Press also included this colorful write up:

The Dutchman pulled off a couple of shoe top catches that won him much applause. Donovan played Sunny Jim baseball, and helped to fill up the sacks in the ninth, to make the game interesting. Mullin, however, fanned Kustus, with a single good to tie and a double good to win. The sacks were filled in the eighth, also, but Carr pulled down a foul fly from Mogg.

“Sacks” is a reference to the bases, while Sunny Jim is a character from Force cereal advertisements. The Dutchman was apparently “Wild Bill” Donovan, who was the top Tigers pitcher behind Mullin. He had four errors playing shortstop.

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The Changing Gears web site posted this article about the event as well as cycling in Detroit.

The team is hosting its first Ride to the Ballpark event, testing its theory that baseball fans and bicyclists are one and the same.

“Detroit has a very cool, strong cyclist culture,” says Eli Bayless, the Tigers’ director of promotions and in-game operations.

The Tigers are offering a $14 package that includes an upper deck ticket to the game, and a ticket for a bicycle valet. Cyclists will pull up to Columbia Plaza in front of Comerica Park’s Gate A entrance, and check their bikes.

Of course you can ride to the ball park any day. On Sunday, you just won’t be able to use the valet parking without this special ticket.

There are bike racks located in the parking lots near the northwest corner of the ball park.

Group rides to the Game

There are three group rides planned to the ballpark.

• American Cycle and Fitness will lead a ride promptly starting at 11am from their Royal Oak store at 29428 Woodward Avenue, just north of 12 Mile.
• The Downtown Ferndale Bike Shop will be leaving the shop at 11:30am. Their located at 163 W. Nine Mile, just west of Woodward.
• And a group is starting at 11am with a breakfast at Louie’s Deli at Mack and Riopelle near Eastern Market. After eating, they’ll take a leisurely ride to the ballpark.

As Bayless told Changing Gears, they’re hoping this will become an annual event and spur the organization to do more to accommodate cyclists.

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Midtown Loop – Phase II construction began on April 16th. Construction goes along the north side of Canfield Avenue from Cass to John R. and continues south along the east side of John R. to Mack.

Second Avenue Two-Way Conversion Project – will convert Second Avenue to a two-way street with bike lanes from I-94 to West Grand Blvd. New decorative LED street lighting will also be installed. Construction will begin May 1st.

Third Avenue Two-Way Conversion Project – will begin on May 7th and is planned to end on July 15th. This project will convert Third Avenue between Ledyard and Forest to two-way traffic, add bike lanes in both directions, and maintain parking along both sides of the street.

Anthony Wayne Drive is also getting bike lanes which connects the Second and Third Avenue projects.

Trumbull from Warren to Holden is also getting bike lanes this year, though it’ll likely happen later in the season.

Mt. Elliott Plaza

Current Mt. Elliott Park design / Photo from Detroit Riverfront Conservancy web site

The plaza will be similar in size to the one currently at Gabriel Richard Park at the foot of the bridge to Belle Isle.

The splash park has a schooner theme with masts, waterfalls, a river, and water cannons. It looks very cool! It’s the kind of attraction that will definitely pull kids and families to the park.

The schooner does not have a name, but you can change that by making a serious donation.

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In Detroit, there have been discussions on driver and cyclist education on bike lanes. They’re relatively new to many neighborhoods. Eventually people learn how to behave around and in bike lanes, however, an effective educational campaign can speed up that learning process.

And there are some potential educational options being discussed and even developed.

At the state level, bike lanes are briefly and sporadically mentioned in the Secretary of State’s booklet, What every Driver Must Know.

We really like this video that was produced by the city of Minneapolis.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeDDYfUP4BU

They also have an educational video on shared road designs.

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[Department of Public Works Director Ron] Brundidge said Detroit is aggressively building bike lanes to promote a healthy lifestyle and to encourage environmentally conscious behavior. “We just feel it’s our responsibility to do everything we can to have our citizens have the option and ability to get out there and bike,” Brundidge said.

Sounds awesome, doesn’t it?

The If you look at the city map provided by the article, you might ask these questions why the City didn’t add bike lanes…

On East Jefferson? There are already a couple other bike lane and streetscape projects planned for this road through the East Jefferson Corridor Collaborative. Stay tuned.

On any of the other spoke roads? All of the other spoke roads (e.g. Grand River, Gratiot) are state roads. It’s up to MDOT to add bike lanes to them.

On Outer Drive? That’s a Wayne County Road. The City did add State Fair, which is an extension off E. Outer Drive.

Connecting Corktown to the RiverWalk via the Sixth Street bridge? The south end of that bridge is on private property. It would be a little trickier getting that connection improved for bicycling, though it’s not all that bad today.

On Second Avenue north of Grand Boulevard? The optimal solution would be to convert Second back to two-way just like it is being done this year south of the Boulevard. These conversions are expensive because the traffic signals need to be replaced as they only face in three directions.

How certain is all this? It’s not 100%. Some of these bike lanes require state grant funding that is very likely but not for certain.

Most of the bike lanes are being added through the city’s regular re-striping program. Those white lines don’t last forever and need to get repainted. Next year Detroit’s going to put down the paint a little differently.

With all the budget cuts planned, some might ask why there’s a priority on adding bike lanes in Detroit now. However, the funding for this is for transportation purposes only and it can’t be spent on police or fire. The Michigan Constitution actually prevents road funding from being spent on non-transportation items.

The exciting news is that if this does all get completed as expected, Detroit will have the most extensive bike lane network among all cities in Michigan and among nearly all U.S. cities. If we don’t win a Cup, World Series, or Super Bowl by next year, at least we’ll have that to brag about.

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That vote was for a “historic” consent agreement, according to the Detroit Free Press:

In the historic consent agreement between the city and state over the management of Detroit, the city agreed to give up — at least temporarily — a good deal of sovereignty over its financial affairs.

So aside from the hope of future solvency, what does Detroit get in return?

A modest amount of increased state spending — and an array of promises.

The 53-page agreement does keep City Council in charge of policy, which is a positive for our Complete Streets efforts. Detroit’s road money is separate from the general budget. We’ve argued that our Complete Streets ordinance wouldn’t add to the city deficit. It just divides up the road funding pie in a slightly different way.

The agreement also contains some state promises which affect Detroit cyclists to varying degrees.

The Positives

The state vows to:

• “Improve public lighting by working with the city to create a separate authority to manage and finance streetlights.” Working street lights can reduce crashes.
• “Move ahead with the New International Trade Crossing project.” The bridge plans do include a bicycle pathway.
• “Invest in a regional, multi-modal system including BRT, bike paths and walkability.” We’re not sure if this means more state investment or just continued funding.
• “Assist the market in applying for a federal TIGER grant to create a seamless trail system from the Riverfront through the Eastern Market, Brush Park, and Wayne State University areas.” It’s a little late. Detroit already applied.
• “Riverfront – Develop the Globe Building, expand Milliken State Park, dedicate a new launch for citizens near Riverfront Park and assist DEGC with resources and talent to transform Hart Plaza.” The latter likely refers to an expansion of Hart Plaza over land that was previously used for the Ford Auditorium.
• “Belle Isle – Create park funding for Belle Isle while ensuring continued City ownership by designating Belle Isle as a part of a cooperative relationship with Milliken State Park. This would include a long-term lease that would accrue the cost of the park’s maintenance and improvements out of the Park Endowment Fund. We will partner with Belle Isle Conservancy and the City to implement a master plan for the Island.”

The Belle Isle item is among the more interesting. Unfortunately the Free Press already got it wrong with an article titled, “Belle Isle likely won’t be free anymore.”

If the island is managed like other Michigan State Parks, there will only be an annual $10 fee for arriving by motor vehicle. One can walk or bike into state parks for free and the same would likely be true with Belle Isle.

While some cheer that this small fee will keep out the less desirable elements, those elements won’t disappear. They’ll find another location, just like they do now when the island closes at 10pm. A fee is not a total solution.

The Big Negative

It can’t all be positive for Detroit cyclists, right? The state vows to:

• “Accelerate a capacity improvement project for I-94 from I-96 to Conner Avenue, supporting more than 13,000 jobs between 2012 and 2020.”

This outdated, mostly unnecessary MDOT project will wipe out 9 bridges over the expressways, including some pedestrian bridges, Third Street, and John R. It effectively widens the I-94 scar through the community.

The Governor needs to get involved in this project since the cost/benefit numbers just don’t add up. It’s “benefit” is from a 1980′s frame of reference that put a priority on reducing rush hour congestion irregardless of the effects on the local community.

Fortunately some local activists are started to pull together some project opposition.

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