What a busy week for bike advocacy!  There are four meetings scheduled this week.  Each meeting is an opportunity to speak up and ask for better bicycling facilities.

Tuesday: Detroit Riverwalk and Dequindre Cut

This is a public forum to discuss future programming of the East Riverfront and Dequindre Cut.  Details were posted last week.

Wednesday: Troy Trails Committee

The next Troy Trails Committee meeting is being held at 7:30pm in the City Council Chambers at City Hall.  We’ll be reviewing an upcoming presentation to City Council and get an update on the Troy’s Master Plan Request for Proposal (RFP).

Thursday: Bloomfield Hills Master Plan

A master planning public workshop is scheduled for Thursday, November 20th from 4 PM until 8 PM.  The workshop is being held at city hall, 45 East Long Lake Road.

The purpose of this public workshop is to inform local citizens of the process to update the Master Plan and gain input into areas of concern and opportunities for the future of the City to be addressed in the Master Plan.  Topics of discussion will include land use, housing density, building design, transportation systems, natural features and community facilities and services.

Improving roads for bicycling is certainly an issue within Bloomfield Hills.

Thursday: Royal Oak Downtown Development Authority

** Note that this is a date change **

We will be going before the DDA to ask that they support better biking and walking in Royal Oak, but especially in Downtown Royal Oak.  We expect to give a presentation similar to what we gave the Royal Oak City Commission.  This meeting is at 4 PM at City Hall.

First, we must thank all the cyclists that came to Monday’s City Commission meeting.  It was impressive and that made the difference, as noted below.

And thanks for being patient.  It took more time than expected (and more time than normal) to get to the public comment period.  There’s an old adage that lawmaking is like making sausage.  You don’t want to see how it’s done.  Monday’s meeting was no exception.

But, once we were able to speak about improving cycling in Royal Oak, the Commission listened and acted.  They modified the evening’s agenda and added a discussion on cycling.

That discussion led to the creation of a small bicycling task force that will work with the city manager to develop recommendations on how we can improve biking safety in Royal Oak.

Our task force has already arranged a meeting later this month with Tom Hoover, Royal Oak’s city manager.  The Woodward Avenue Action Association is supportive of our efforts and will participate in this discussion as well.

There was media coverage of the event by the Detroit News, Daily Tribune, and Mirror.

I also got a quote in the November Complete Streets e-Newsletter:

It’s difficult to ride your bike to the zoo when it shouldn’t be.  Royal Oak spends so much on parking.  If we increased the number of people riding bicycles in the city we’d save money.

The Royal Oak Police have found the Jeep Liberty involved in the hit-and-run accident on Woodward which killed Jacqueline Marie Robinson as she biked to work.

According to the Royal Oak Review:

The SUV belonged to a Royal Oak resident and had been already repaired before the department took it in as evidence, O’Donohue said. “(We found the vehicle) through a variety of sources and some really good detective work,” O’Donohue said. “The investigation is continuing. That is all we are really releasing right now.”

Anyone with additional information is asked to contact the Royal Oak police at (248) 246-3515.

Also, donations can be made in the name of Robinson’s mother, Judith Parent, who is caring for the boys. The address is Bank of America, 28746 Woodward, Royal Oak 48067.

If you live, work and bike in Royal Oak — we need you on Monday, November 10th at 7:30 PM at City Hall (third floor).

Royal Oak City Environment Committee, the Sierra Club, and concerned local bicyclists are speaking before City Commission to ask for improved bicycle and pedestrian safety in Royal Oak.  In short we are asking them to develop a non-motorized transportation plan.

Here are some tips from Tom Regan, who’s down a lot of work getting us to this point:

We will speak at public comment, which is at the very start of the meeting, so you must be on-time.

Idea — Bike to the event and carry your bicycle helmet into the meeting. Hold your helmet when you speak at public comment.

The themes are very simple. You can address any one or more of these points when you speak:

• Royal Oak can be a dangerous place to ride a bike.
• All Royal Oak citizens will benefit if Royal Oak becomes a safer place to walk and ride a bike.
• Royal Oak should write a non-motorized transportation plan as a way to set community goals and reach them in an intelligent and efficient manner.

Be very brief, or take the whole 5 minutes, or just give your name and address and say “I would like Royal Oak to write a non-motorized transportation plan.” If even that sounds scary just stand next to someone else when they talk and hold your bike helmet!

The local Sierra Club has jumped into this effort with both feet. They are an extremely well-organized and active chapter, we are very fortunate to have their help. The Royal Oak Environment Committee has also endorsed the effort.

Please send your letters-to-the-editor now. There will be a sudden drop in letters with the election over, now is a good time to get published. Nothing long or involved is needed, just dash off something quick on how Royal Oak would benefit if it were safer for walking and biking:

• Royal Oak Mirror
• Royal Oak Review
• Royal Oak Daily Tribune
• Oakland Press

We look forward to seeing some helmets at Monday’s meeting.

There’s been plenty of debate about the value of two Southeast Michigan ghost bikes.

One positive thing they have resulted in is front page media coverage.  The October 1st Royal Oak Review put the story on page one with a photo.  The October 5th Mirror Newspaper just did the same.

For many, the incident, and the stark reminder of it, have heightened the awareness for bike safety in what is still largely a car-dominant metro area.

It was great to read informed public officials talking about bike lanes as an option for safer cycling in Metro Detroit.  Cullen Watkins, store manager for American Cycle & Fitness also said the same.

He thinks bike lanes would go far to protecting bicyclists. “When all is said and done, every community can put in bike lanes. People are walking on the sidewalks; we don’t belong on the sidewalks.”

So at this point is remains to be seen if this recent media attention will help put this issue on the City of Royal Oak and the City Commission agendas’ — something we have not been able to achieve to date.