From Tom Regan of Royal Oak:

If you cycle frequently you have probably mapped out some safe and quick ways to get from here to there (say, from Royal Oak to Berkely, or from Clawson to Ferndale). Now it is time to share your knowledge.

We are collecting safe biking routes into one large regional biking map. With help from the Oakland County mapping department we will collate the data and publish this map sometime in the spring of 2012.

Residents of Berkley, Birmingham, Clawson, Ferndale, Pleasant Ridge, and Royal Oak are invited and encouraged to attend. If you live in another city and would like to join please call or email me directly and we will add you in.

Join us:

This bike caught our eye on Twitter. It’s a custom-stretched cruiser made in Royal Oak by goCRUISERgo.

It’s name? The Purple Chameleon, perhaps inspired by the Dequindre Cut graffiti.

The company doesn’t seem to have a web site, but they are on Facebook where they list their products:

Custom Stretch Cruisers to include but not limited to…

Base Models
Built-to-Order (you pick it, we’ll do it)
Frames (build your own)
Side Cars (coming soon… )
Other options and accessories, please inquire.

Sidecars? Sweet.

As for the Chameleon, it’s for sale at a reasonable $375.

The Draft Royal Oak Non-motorized Plan was forwarded by the Planning Commission to the City Commission on September 13th. On Monday the City Commission will decide whether to approve the plan for distribution to adjacent communities, MDOT, SEMCOG, and others. After a 63-day comment period, the Planning Commission can hold a formal public hearing and decide whether to adopt the plan. The City Commission may assert their right to approve or reject the plan.

Confused yet?

The city staff did send a letter to the Commission which provides an overview and these concerns expressed by the Engineering department.

The Non-Motorized Transportation Plan includes recommendations for both road diets with bike lanes and shared-lane markings on various streets throughout the city. Questions arose after we received the plan regarding proposed road diets for Twelve Mile Road, Thirteen Mile Road, Fourteen Mile Road, Crooks Road, and Main Street. The Engineering Department indicated that road diets would not be suitable on these roads due to their traffic volumes and would therefore not support them. The Active Transportation Alliance disagrees and feels road diets would be suitable for these streets. As a compromise, the plan states that if traffic volumes preclude a full road diet on any of these streets, then shared-lane markings could be installed as an alternative.

The traffic volumes do support some of engineering’s concerns. However, Crooks Road and Main Street look very different throughout their length. Crooks Road north of 13 Mile might not be suitable for a road diet, whereas it might south of 13 Mile. Main Street through the central business district is ripe for a road diet, as are the portions north of 12 Mile into Clawson — where it has already been road dieted successfully.

During the past couple weeks, there have been at least a few news stories about the plan, the latter of which made the front page.

• Royal Oak mulls non-motorized plan (Observer & Eccentric)
• Planning Panel OKs Building Requests, Hears Non-Motorized Plan (Royal Oak Patch)
• Draft of Royal Oak non-motorized plan ready (C and G News)

Royal Oak City Commission Candidates

League of Women Voters recently held a forum for Royal Oak Commission candidates. One question for the candidates was, “What is your opinion of the non-motorized plan?”

The Royal Oak Patch covered the event and has their responses to this question. All of the candidates voiced their support for the non-motorized plan, though some were quick to offer caveats as well.

Here’s what we think of the responses:

• Kyle DuBuc: We think this was among the best responses, and as mentioned before, he supports Complete Streets.
• Mike Fournier: We’re not clear what he means by doing it “the right way” and “benchmark, benchmark, benchmark.” Who’s made their community more bike friendly and walkable the wrong way?
• George Gomez: Another good response, and he’s right. Bike friendliness and walkability are already in the master plan.
• Peggy Godwin: She’s a “huge proponent” but with an eye toward being fiscally realistic. That makes sense.
• Rick Karlowski: This seems to be the least supportive answer of the group. Road diets are not “extremely expensive” nor do they “shut down major thouroughfares.”
• Bill Shaw: Somewhere among the nostalgia is a brief note of support.
• Scott Warheit: We agree. This plan is merely a great start and we need to continue community engagement.

Have you read the plan? What are your thoughts?

A draft of the Royal Oak Non-Motorized Transportation Plan is now on-line and available for review according to city planner Doug Hedges.

The plan is being presented to Royal Oak’s Planning Commission on Tuesday, September 13th, at 7:30 p.m. That meeting is open to the public and anyone interested is welcome to attend and offer their comments or viewpoints regarding the plan.

Here’s a link to download copies of the plan

Let us know if you have any questions, otherwise we look forward to seeing most of you on the 13th.

Planning Commission meetings are held in the council chambers on the third floor of the Royal Oak City Hall at 211 Williams Street.

Royal Oak’s non-motorized plan is nearing completion and will be presented to the City Planning Commission at their September 13th meeting at City Hall (211 S. Williams Street, third floor). The meeting begins at 7:30pm and it would be a great to see cyclists in the audience showing (if not speaking) their support.

The Planning Department expects to have the draft plan on the city web site early next month. This will give the public the opportunity to review it prior to the meeting.

You will be able to submit comments via email as well.