The city of Highland Park is currently updating their recreation master plan.

Surprisingly enough, their 1999 plan “promotes the implementation of bike lanes throughout the city in an effort to promote both a linked park and school system as well as non-motorized traffic” (according to the city’s master plan.) We’re trying to find a copy of the original 1999 plan which supposedly have greater details.

Even still, we do have proposed bike lane map, which is fairly good. Our only thoughts are:

• McNichols needs bike lanes. They are specified in the Detroit plan.
• It’s too bad there’s no clear continuing route for Glendale over to Oakland, which is a fairly minor issue.
• We’re not sure why Midland was chosen rather than continuing on Puritan.
• It might be wise adding a connection between Second and Third at the southern city boundary. That would tie together the two Detroit routes. McNichols would tied them together on the northern boundary.
• The railroad should be highlighted as a future shared-use pathway called the Inner Circle Greenway.

What is odd about the city’s master plan is they recommend a single bike lane on the east side of Hamilton. That is not a safe or proper design.

Of course, none of this has been implemented to date. Highland Park has been through some tumultuous times of late. Still, these plans certainly open the door for the future.

Yesterday, the below letter was sent to the Highland Park Chief of Police, Theodore G. Cadwell II:

Dear Chief Cadwell,

I am writing to express concern that some of the Highland Park police officers may not be familiar with state law and bicycling.

Last night I was riding home from the Detroit Fireworks along Woodward Avenue through Highland Park.

At 11:11pm, I passed a Highland Park squad car at a traffic stop on northbound Woodward near Church. The police officer yelled “Sidewalk” to me. Apparently he expected me to ride on the sidewalk rather than the road. However, under state law, I have the same access to the road as any motorist (though I must stay to the right.)

According to MCL 257.657:

Each person riding a bicycle, electric personal assistive mobility device, or moped or operating a low-speed vehicle upon a roadway has all of the rights and is subject to all of the duties applicable to the driver of a vehicle by this chapter, except as to special regulations in this article and except as to the provisions of this chapter which by their nature do not have application.

I would also note that bicycling on a sidewalk is far more dangerous than bicycling on a road. There have been numerous studies which have come to that conclusion.

Also, last month the Secretary of Transportation posted the article, Bicycling is only healthy when you ride safely. In the article he said, “Motorists should recognize that bicyclists have a right to ride on the roadway” and “bicyclists should ride on the roadway, rather than on sidewalks.”

I will drop off some booklets called “What Every Bicyclists Must Know” at the police station. They were printed in partnership with MDOT and help explain bicycle laws in the state of Michigan.

The Detroit Greenways Coalition is a group of non-profits involved in developing greenways and trails within the cities of Detroit, Hamtramck, and Highland Park.

The Coalition recently applied for and received a $3.5 million dollar grant to help continue and grow momentum for more non-motorized trails.  It’s a huge opportunity to get some significant projects completed and move others toward completion.

The grant specifically allocated monies to three projects: the Dequindre Cut extention (from Gratiot to Mack), the Midtown loop (Phase II), and the Conner Creek Greenway.  The grant money won’t pay for all of these project, but it will serve as matching funds to bring in MDOT and DNR grant funds.

The Free Press recently ran a story on this grant.

“I think it’s a really exciting contribution for Kresge to commit to Detroit neighborhoods in this way,” said Libby Pachota, project director for the Conner Creek Greenway. “And it’s exciting that folks want to support infrastructure development and green space in neighborhoods in Detroit.”

Stay tuned for more updates on Detroit trails.  It’s shaping up to be a good summer.

It’s been well-documented that sewer grates can be hazardous to cycling. Poorly designed grates can trap cyclists front tires and cause accidents.

While I don’t recall seeing these hazardous grates in the City of Detroit, I have seen plenty of collapsed grates, missing grates, missing grates with tires stuck in hole, etc. However, there are dangerous grates on Oakland Avenue north of Manchester in Highland Park. They have raised ridges that are about 3 inches tall. These are definitely not bike friendly. I can only speculate that their purpose was to strengthen the grate while preventing parked truck tires from blocking the sewer opening. This area is directly east of Ford’s old Highland Park manufacturing complex.