A group of bills were introduced in Lansing earlier this year that change how Michigan generates and distributes road funding.

These bills as written have many opponents. Bicyclists, pedestrians, trail users, and Complete Street supporters should be among them.

Here are three reasons.

Eliminates bike funding requirement

First, House Bill 5300 would transfer funding from the current Michigan Transportation Fund (MTF) to the Commercial Corridor Fund (CCF) over an 8 year period. The MTF and CCF distribute funds to counties, cities, and villages. The MTF requires 1% of the funding to be spent on non-motorized facilities like bike lanes and sidewalks. The CCF has no such requirement.

So rather than remove the 1% requirement in law, legislators are simply creating a new fund without the requirement and shifting the money. We’re not sure how intentional this change was, but it has been a long standing goal of the County Road Association of Michigan to remove this requirement.

Increases funding for sprawl

The current road funding is generally distributed based on the miles of roads. House Bill 5303 would change that to distribute funding based on motor vehicle miles traveled or VMT.

Counties and cities that require people to drive more and longer distances will be rewarded. There will be a financial disincentive for counties and cities to promote public transit, biking and walking as they’ll receive less money.

Forecasts from MDOT show the city of Detroit would see some devastating funding cuts as a result. Even if the fuel taxes and vehicle registration fees are raised significantly, the City will still lose 8% of their road funding. And since those tax and fee increases may not even occur, the loss will be even greater. The City has already testified against this change.

Ironically enough, the bill’s sponsor is former City Councilwoman Alberta Tinsley-Talabi.

Promotes speeding

Granted this is the weaker of the three sins, but it deserves a mention for its sheer stupidity.

House Bills 5301 and 5302 require counties, cities, and villages to time traffic lights but not for the speed limit. On a road that has enough speeding cars, this legislation requires road agencies to time the traffic lights for them, which will likely induce more speeding.

We’ve already heard of MDOT doing this on a local state trunkline. Now this practice will be enshrined in law.

Recommended action

We recommend you contact your state representative and state senator to let them know you oppose removing the 1% requirement and oppose distributing road funds according to vehicle miles traveled.

These bills have been out for more than a couple months now. We can’t afford to keep sitting on the sidelines.

With ever rising fuel prices and increasing public interest in Complete Streets, it is unacceptable that we change road funding that takes us back to the 1970s mind set.

A bicycle show returns to Detroit this Saturday at Cobo Center from 10am until 6pm.

More details and ticket information is on their web site, Detroit Bike City.

We’re not sure how long it’s been since the last one, but it’s been 116 years since the first one. Welcome back!

One of the promoters, Jason Hall did this interview with ClickOnDetroit. The entire promotion crew was on WDET as well.

MacKool says the region has such a rich bike culture, an event like this was long overdue.

Absolutely!

There are a couple related rides that morning as well.

The Wolverine Sport Club is leading a ride from Downtown Royal Oak which leaves from the fountain Area between the library and city hall. The show has bike valet parking, so cyclists can easily visit the show and not worry about their ride home.

The other ride is a casual, free tour led by Tom Page of Detroit Synergy:

The Fifth Annual Detroit Bikes! Spring Training Ride (STR for short) is a sports themed event in which the riders will cruise past current and past Detroit sports venues, including Comerica Park, Ford Field, Tiger Stadium (RIP), Olympia Stadium (RIP), Recreation Park, Veterans Memorial Park in Hamtramck (former home of the Detroit Stars) and others.

Ride Starts: 10 AM sharp at the Millennium Bell, Grand Circus Park, downtown Detroit. Registration at 0930.
Distance of ride: approximately 16 miles (about 26 kilometers)
Length: approximately two and a half hours (150 metric minutes for our Canadian friends)
Pace: Relaxed, non-competitive pace, suitable for all experience levels
Helmets: Required!
Dress: Show your Detroit sports pride by wearing your favorite Detroit team’s T-shirt, hat, bandanna, flag, socks, wristbands, whatever!
Rain Date: NONE! The ride will take place regardless of rain, snow, earthquakes, federal indictments, and consent decrees. There is no rain date! As long as one person shows up (in addition to me, of course!) the show will go on!

A high of 72F is forecast for Saturday so it should be a great day all around.

We mentioned Detroit submitted a TIGER III transportation grant that would have extended the Dequindre Cut and Midtown Loop. built bike lanes from Eastern Market to the planned Hamtramck Trail, and made major street improvements at Eastern Market.

That grant wasn’t funded though the city was told by one congressional office that it scored near the top.

The City is submitting an improved version of the grant request this round.

Competition?

One interesting wrinkle this time is it appears the M1 Rail group is applying for a $25 million TIGER IV grant as well. Even though it would be from the transit portion of TIGER IV, it’s unlikely two big grants would come to Detroit.

From the Detroit News:

[U.S. DOT Secretary Ray] LaHood said in January the government will consider awarding Detroit’s light-rail project up to $25 million on top of $25 million awarded for a bus rapid transit system.

LaHood told The Detroit News he is willing to offer additional government money if the M-1 light rail coalition can show it is financially viable.

Congressional aides said the M-1 plan assumes it will win the $25 million grant, which the FTA says is not certain.

The Detroit News is reporting the the U.S. DOT has “serious concerns” about the M1 Rail’s viability. The Detroit Free Press reports a more moderate response.

…while no decision has been made, there is skepticism in Washington, including concerns that the M-1 plan’s cost estimate — at $125 million — is too low and that the group of private investors won’t pull together enough private financing to qualify for a $25-million federal grant for the project.

Of course the other issue with M1 Rail and bicycling is their plan to run the street cars along the curbs. As we’ve said before, curbside alignments are problematic for cyclists and Complete Streets advocates.

Seattle cyclists sue

The street car tracks are a major safety issue and liability. At least a half-dozen Seattle cyclists have lawsuits against the city for crashes due to street car rails. We spoke with an attorney handling these cases and they said this would be a class action lawsuit if their office had the capacity to organize such an effort.

Does MDOT really want to open themselves up to that?

MDOT should know it’s a hazardous design for bicyclists — it’s mentioned as such in Detroit’s Woodward light rail reports.

There are safety concerns for bicycle users with [the curbside designs] due to the potential for bicycle tires to be caught within the rail flange space in the road. While alternative rail types may reduce this potential conflict, it cannot be fully mitigated.

Of course the odds are that neither project will receive the funding. It’s a hyper-competitive grant source.

Then again, Michigan’s only successful TIGER III grant was a road to a landfill, so anything is possible.

Hats off to the Palmer Woods Association and Hamilton-Anderson for making changes to the proposed street closure at Strathcona and Woodward.

The new design still prohibits motor vehicles from entering Palmer Woods, while accommodating bicyclists and pedestrians.

The other road closures on Woodward and Seven Mile won’t have a major impact on area bicyclists as there are other options. That really wasn’t the case for Strathcona.

Hopefully in the near future, the Complete Streets planning for Woodward can make it more welcoming for less confidant cyclists. A two-way, physically-separated bike lane from Eight Mile to McNichols would be one possible solution.

Other improvements

The Palmer Woods Association is also making other changes in the neighborhood, including adding internal traffic diverters (with accommodations for bikes), repaired sidewalks, and improved lighting. They are one of the three areas targeted under the Detroit Works Project. The work done here can serve as models for other neighborhoods in Detroit.

Actually, this street closure is a model for other areas throughout Metro Detroit and beyond.

Many know about Back Alley Bikes/The Hub of Detroit. It was the City’s first Youth Earn-a-Bike program and it’s been around for over a decade now.

Youth Earn-A-Bike sessions are where youth ages 8-16 are able to earn a single bicycle of their choosing by building and repairing this bicycle with our qualified staff and volunteers for three (3) Earn-A-Bike sessions. Each session is approximately three (3) hours in length, and they are held on Saturday afternoons during the summer.

But there are other Earn-a-bike programs in other parts of the city, including the Mt. Elliott Makerspace located at 231 East Grand Boulevard at Lafayette in the Messiah Episcopal Church.

And the Mt. Elliott Makerspace has some other real interesting programs that focus on transportation, but more specifically:

Human-powered and alternative-energy-powered vehicles designed to enhance mobility, safety, and enjoyability. E.g. bicycles and bicycle trailers, alternative energy vehicles

They also bring in electronics as they build lights and music to create “Tron” bikes.

This video shows more of what they do. It includes a great quote, “I wasn’t getting enough exercise until I earned my bike.”