If you use Google Maps to get a bike route between Detroit and Windsor, it will give you directions to use the Tunnel. Of course the Tunnel is not open to cyclists so we alerted Google and they are in the process of correcting that.

Southwest Detroit

We recently heard from the Southwest Detroit Business Association (SDBA) that construction on the Corktown/Mexicantown/West Vernor Greenlinks are on schedule and are close to moving to bid. “Construction is still scheduled for this spring/summer.”

Also on the Southwest side of Detroit, Model D is reporting on a planned Beard Park expansion led by the Urban Neighborhood Initiative (UNI). The plans call for a pump track. We helped connect Miss Cory Coffey — a BMX World Champion now living in Detroit — with this project. Beard Park is located north of W. Fort Street and a couple blocks east of Woodmere.

Detroit to Muskegon bike route

The League of Michigan Bicyclists has compiled input from cyclists to create a bicycle route from Detroit to Musekgon. The PDF route is on-line and it is very large at 27 megabytes.

RiverWalk’s Faye Nelson

Detroit Riverfront Conservancy President Faye Nelson received the 24th Soul and Spirit Humanitarian Award from Judge Damon Keith. Nelson also recently recognized by Grio as a History Maker in the Making for her RiverWalk efforts. “Nelson’s work has brought over $100 million to the area and renewed interest in the once-struggling neighborhood, becoming not just a beautification project, but a rallying point for the community.”

Reimagining Livernois

A Free Press editorial discusses the planning efforts to revitalize Livernois Avenue in Northwest Detroit.

Urban Land Institute’s Daniel Rose Center for Public Leadership in Land Use gathered in northwest Detroit. The urban planners, developers, city managers and architects spent four days generating ideas to turn the Livernois corridor — from 6 Mile to St. Martins, north of 7 Mile — into a thriving urban main street that could meet the retail and entertainment needs of one of the city’s most affluent neighborhoods. Similar Urban Land Institute efforts will take place this year in Charlotte, Sacramento and Houston.

One of the group’s conclusions is to make the street more bike friendly with traffic calming and bike paths. The relatively new boulevard, while improving pedestrian and vehicle safety, does limit the options for on-road bike facilities. There may not be enough room for bike lanes. Sharrows would be an alternative. And while sharrows may not make the road comfortable for less experienced cyclists, it should be possible to make the parallel residential streets more bike friendly.

Ordonez bikes

As many Red Wings have done, Detroit Tiger Magglio Ordonez now includes biking, including mountain biking in his training regimen.

[Alex] Avila noted how Ordonez would occasionally be a few minutes late for the workouts, only to have a pretty good excuse.

“We’d say, ‘Where have you been,’” Avila said. “‘Oh, I was riding my bike 15 miles.’”

Ordonez’s workout regimen drew attention last year, when his program was compared to that of a football player. But he also got into bicycle riding, especially mountain bikes.

It looks like the Tigers are at home for the 2011 Tour de Troit weekend… You in, Maggio?

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That unwillingness is going to make  Complete Streets a bitter pill.

One doesn’t have to look too far to confirm that. Here’s the text they’ve had in the Oakland County’s Oak Routes Map.

The Road Commission for Oakland County is a member of the Oakland County Trails Advisory Council in order to accomplish two goals. First, our goal is to encourage and facilitate the movement of people throughout the county by non-motorized means as a way to promote healthier living and reducing the number of trips required on the road system. Secondly, the Road Commission wants to create the best possible nonmotorized network by contributing technical expertise to the location and design of the pathway system. This will create fewer conflicts with the motorized network and result in the safest possible trails for all users. Accomplishing both goals is in the best interest of our residents’ health, safety, and quality of life.

Yes, they refer to roads as the “motorized network.”

Yes, they are trying to gets bikes off the road.

Some of their best work is in Oakland County townships such as West Bloomfield. West Bloomfield has partnered with the Road Commission to get bikes of the roads and onto side paths, which they call safety paths.

Township officials have acknowledged to us that these paths are not safe for many bicyclists. That said, they’re still committed to building them.

One of their engineers admitted that these paths do not follow AASHTO bicycle design guidelines, but insisted it’s okay because the township only labels them as pedestrian facilities. That doesn’t explain the path’s bike routes signs or much of their safety path documentation.

Given all this, it is a major disappointment that the League of Michigan Bicyclists is giving its 2010 Community Award to the West Bloomfield Parks and Recreation Commission, for among other things, “activities that support making Michigan a better place to bicycle.”  The Commission has been a supporter of this safety path program and calls for more of them in their master plan.

Safety paths are not making Michigan a better place to bicycle.

And safety paths in nearly all cases do not make a Complete Street.

Related Posts

• West Bloomfield: Complete Streets and Safety Paths
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Cars and pedestrians in the Belle Isle bike lanes

Belle Isle Survey

This is a short survey about Belle Isle that seemingly overlooks the value of its bike lanes. If you ride on Belle Isle, you may want to let them know. We noted that the lack of walking paths means many pedestrians are using the bike lanes. This is not a safe solution for either group.

The Detroit Recreation Department and several private groups that support Belle Isle – the Friends of Belle Isle, the Belle Isle Botanical Society, the Belle Isle Women’s Committee and the Friends of Belle Isle Aquarium – are conducting a survey about Belle Isle. Your participation in this survey will help the City and its supporters to set priorities for Belle Isle management and capital improvements. To take the survey go to http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/BelleIsle

League of Michigan Bicyclists Survey

From John Lindenmayer of the LMB:

The Board of Directors and staff of League of Michigan Bicyclists (LMB) are currently in the process of developing a five-year plan for the organization. The process will look at the internal and external environment we exist in today. We will identify key issues facing the organization in the following areas: Advocacy, Education, Promotion, Financial Resources and Human Resources. Once these issues are determined we will develop goals and action steps over the next five years to address these issues.

We need your input in helping us with a SWOT Analysis. SWOT stands for Strengths/Weaknesses and Opportunity/Threats. Please take a couple of minutes to fill out our online survey form. We have posted a slightly different survey for LMB members and a separate one for nonmembers. Please use the appropriate link below:

• LMB Member Survey
• LMB Non-Member Survey

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The League of Michigan Bicyclists and the Michigan Fitness Foundation announced today that they will host a statewide conference call to assist businesses and communities to learn about the League of American Bicyclists Bicycle Friendly Communities and Bicycle Friendly Business Program. The call is free to any interested individual or organization and will be held on Tuesday, June 29th from 12:30PM to 1:30PM. To RSVP and receive call-in information, please email jlindenmayer@lmb.org

The Bicycle Friendly Business (BFB) program recognizes employers’ efforts to encourage a more bicycle-friendly atmosphere for employees and customers. The program honors innovative bike-friendly efforts and provides technical assistance and information to help companies and organizations become even better for bicyclists. This new initiative complements the League’s Bicycle Friendly Community (BFC) program, which has been recognizing cities and towns for their bicycle friendliness since 2003.

The conference call will feature a presentation from Alison Dewey, a Washington, DC-based Program Specialist with the League of American Bicyclists’ Bicycle Friendly America program. Alison will outline the programs and offer guidance on completing the application process. Joining Alison will be three Michigan-based advocates with previous experience working on BFB and BFC applications: John Lindenmayer, Associate Director of the League of Michigan Bicyclists; Rory Neuner, LMB Board Member; and Sarah Panken, the Active Communities Coordinator at the Michigan Fitness Foundation.

As of Spring 2010, six Michigan communities have received designation as a Bicycle Friendly Community at the Silver or Bronze level, and three Michigan communities have received an Honorable Mention. Three Michigan businesses, including the League of Michigan Bicyclists, have been designated as Bicycle Friendly Businesses.

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Businesses that apply for the award are contributing to a more bicycle-friendly lifestyle for their employees. The Hub of Detroit serves as an example for best practices and innovations in bicycle friendliness at the workplace. The Hub of Detroit makes bicycling an easy option for transportation and provides amenities such as mechanical assistance and education, ample bicycle parking and incentives such as an ally program where ongoing time commitments to the organization yield expanded access to tool space and time.

“This Bicycle Friendly Business is making a difference for employees, customers, and communities,” said Bill Nesper, Director of the Bicycle Friendly America Program. “The Hub of Detroit promotes bicycling as a viable form of transportation and gives their employees choices and options that make biking to work easy and fun.”

The other Michigan-based Bicycle Friendly Businesses are the League of Michigan Bicyclists in Lansing (silver) and Mel Trotter Ministries in Grand Rapids (bronze).

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I’ve been working closely on bicycle advocacy issues with Mike for the past few years. He gets it, he’s involved in it, and he’s willing to bring that experience and energy to the LMB.

I can’t count the number of times I’ve spoken with him on cycling issues and his response is always, “What can I do to help?”

But perhaps more important than offering to help, he does what he says and gets things done. You don’t grow a single store into one of America’s largest bicycle stores networks by not getting things done.

And, from the halls of the U.S. capitol to the streets of Oakland County, I’ve personally seen Mike’s understanding of the issues and how he can professionally represent cycling and get the message across.

When meeting with our Congressmembers earlier this spring, Mike was always quick to bring in the economic benefits argument. He’s a local businessmen that is hiring people in these economic times and that certainly a statement that few other groups can make in Washington or Lansing.

I also spoke with John Waterman from PEAC. He noted that Mike’s been a big supporter of the PEAC program and also supports Mike’s election to the LMB board.

Steve Roach, LMB Director from Region 1 is also throwing his support behind Mike Reuter.

We need to make this change to move the LMB forward, so please consider casting your vote for Mike.

If you have any questions, please contact me personally.

Todd Scott

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Roach, 48, is a lawyer at Miller Canfield in downtown Detroit. Several times a week, weather permitting, he leaves his car at home and commutes from his Grosse Pointe Park house to his office by bicycle. The 8.5-mile route carries him into decaying neighborhoods, over rutted pavement and sometimes through sweltering heat, but all of this doesn’t stop him, or even slow him down, and it certainly doesn’t bum him out. Exercise is its own reward.

“It occurred to me that it takes me at least 20 minutes to drive (to my office), and I started thinking I bet I could ride (there) in 20. I’m able to clear my head and enjoy it. For an extra 20 minutes of commuting a day, I get an hour’s worth of exercise.”

Through my job as Detroit Greenway Coordinator for MTGA, I get to work with Steve quite often. He’s definitely one of the shining stars within the LMB.

And on our most recent Detroit rides we even rescued a baby goat. Serious.

While he’s been very supportive of the Detroit biking and trail efforts, he and others are also working to make the Pointes more bike friendly. One suggestion is having bike lanes on Jefferson, or at least some Share the Road signage.

Here’s a video from the Grosse Pointe Today article as well.

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Legislative Action Alert

Tell your Legislator to Support HB 6299 and HB 6300, make roads safer for cyclists.

Representatives Andy Coulouris (D-Saginaw) and David Palsrok (R-Manistee) on June 29 introduced House Bills 6299 and 6300, which enhance penalties for moving violations causing physical injury or death to bicyclists and other vulnerable roadway users.

Senator Tom George (R-Kalamazoo) has committed to introduce Senate companion bills with the same language. (Check www.LMB.org/advocacycenter.htm) for future information, including Senate bill numbers and co-sponsors.)

A teen on a bike deserves the same protection as one driving a tractor. These bills will make Michigan roadways safer for bicyclists and all vulnerable users of our taxpayer-funded road system.

Bill Excerpts

(1) A “VULNERABLE ROADWAY USER” IS DEFINED AS A PEDESTRIAN OR A PERSON OPERATING A NONMOTORIZED TRANSPORTATION DEVICE (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO A BICYCLE).

(2) A PERSON WHO COMMITS A MOVING VIOLATION AND AS A RESULT CAUSES INJURY TO A VULNERABLE ROADWAY USER ON A HIGHWAY WHO IS IN COMPLIANCE WITH THIS ACT IS GUILTY OF A MISDEMEANOR PUNISHABLE BY IMPRISONMENT FOR NOT MORE THAN 1 YEAR OR A FINE OF NOT MORE THAN $1,000.00, OR BOTH.

(3) A PERSON WHO COMMITS A MOVING VIOLATION AND AS A RESULT CAUSES DEATH TO A VULNERABLE ROADWAY USER ON A HIGHWAY WHO IS IN COMPLIANCE WITH THIS ACT IS GUILTY OF A FELONY PUNISHABLE BY IMPRISONMENT FOR NOT MORE THAN 15 YEARS OR A FINE OF NOT MORE THAN $7,500.00, OR BOTH.

Please write your Representative today and ask him or her to support HB 6299 & 6300! A sample letter is reproduced below. Also, please make sure to thank your legislator if he/she is sponsoring or co-sponsoring one of these bills, or commits to voting for it. Copy LMB with any letter of support you receive.

Current Sponsors and Co-sponsors:
Andy Coulouris (primary HB 6300)
David Palsrok (primary HB 6299)
George Cushingberry, Jr. (D-Detroit)
Marie Donigan (D-Royal Oak)
Bill Huizenga (R-Zeeland)
Joe Hune (R-Hamburg)
Robert Jones (D-Kalamazoo)
Richard LeBlanc (D-Westland)
Gabe Leland (D-Detroit)
Mark Meadows (D-E. Lansing)
Andy Meisner (D-Ferndale)
Fred Miller (D-Mount Clemens)
Rebekah Warren (D-Ann Arbor)

HB 6300 & 6299 have been referred to the House Transportation Committee. Constituent letters to Committee members are especially important right now.

Transportation Committee Members:
Hoon-Yung Hopgood, Committee Chair, (D-Westlake, Taylor)
Martin J. Griffin (D), Majority Vice-Chair, 64th District
Frank Accavitti Jr. (D-South Park, Eastpointe)
Steve Bieda (D-Warren)
Marie Donigan (D-Royal Oak) *
Kate Ebli (D-Monroe)
Gabe Leland (D-Detroit) *
Jeff Mayes (D-Bay City)
Fred Miller (D-Mount Clemens) *
Coleman A. Young II (D-Detroit)
Philip LaJoy, Minority Vice-Chair (R-Canton)
Tom Casperson (R-Escanaba)
Neal Nitz (R-Baroda)
Phil Pavlov (R-St Clair Township)
Tom Pearce (R-Rockford)
John Stahl (R-North Branch)
Marty Knollenberg (R-Troy)

* Committee members already co-sponsoring HB 6300 & 6299

Find full bills and legislator addresses at: www.LMB.org/advocacycenter.htm or call the LMB office at 1-888-642-4537.

Sample Letter

The Honorable ________________________

[Address]

[Date]

Dear [Representative] _____________________,

As a citizen of your district, I urge you to support HB 6299 and 6300, which enhance penalties for moving violations causing physical injury or death to bicyclists and other vulnerable roadway users. These bills will make the penalties for injuring or killing a bicyclist the same as those enacted in 2001 for drivers who injure or kill people operating (typically slow-moving) farm vehicles.

Rising energy prices and concerns about health, fitness and the environment have put more people on bicycles and more bikes on the road. They must no longer be treated as eccentrics, annoyances to drivers, or second-class citizens. They are our brothers and sisters, our parents and our children. More and more, people will need to use bikes to get from home to school and work. They are entitled to safe use of Michigan roads. They too deserve a “brake.”

A driver convicted of seriously injuring or killing a bicyclist can serve as little as days or months. Too many motorists consider cyclists “fair game” for intimidation, harassment, endangerment and outright vehicular assault. This bill will give judges and prosecutors more tools for controlling aggressive or reckless drivers. Specific penalties for injuring or killing a bicyclist will deter drivers from endangering bicyclists and other vulnerable roadway users.

Thank you for seriously considering this issue. Please tell me that you will support HB 6299 and 6300 to save lives. I look forward to your reply.

Sincerely,

[Your Name,

Your Address,

Your Telephone #]

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The workshops include

• Advocacy at the Local Level
• Complete Streets
• On Road Facilities
• Regional Coalitions

The cost is $25 and includes lunch.

Additional information and registration

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We’ve met and discussed this dilemma with the Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance, League of Michigan Bicyclists, Michigan Fitness Foundation, and American Cycle and Fitness. We looked at one example of a successful regional advocacy group in Flint.

Of course, one big issue is funding.

Since the National Safe Routes to School Conference was in Dearborn at the end of 2007, we set up a meeting with Tim Blumenthal of BikesBelong. As he mentioned ahead of time, he didn’t bring his checkbook, but he still gave us ideas of where else this situation has been resolved throughout the U.S. Unfortunately there aren’t many examples.

Still, this idea is moving forward though with a more limited regional perspective. We’ll should be posting more updates in the near future.

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