Clinton River Trail: Bridge Groundbreaking

MDOT and the city of Pontiac are hosting a groundbreaking ceremony for the new trail bridge over Telegraph. The ceremony is August 12th at 10AM on the eastern edge of the bridge near Old Telegraph.

This bridge will connect two important pieces of the Clinton River Trail that are currently very difficult to connect using surface streets. A rendering of the bridge is shown on the right. This project is being funded primarily with ARRA (a.k.a. stimulus) money. The Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund is also contributing.

This still leaves one major gap in the Clinton River Trail for Pontiac: from Bagley Street west of Downtown to the Auburn Hills border at Opdyke.

We are clearly ignoring the trail’s improper signed routing of the Clinton River Trail through Downtown Pontiac on sidewalks. Yes, a newly signed bicycle route on sidewalks.

We’re not sure how such obvious mistake could have been funded by MDOT given the AASHTO bicycle guidelines clear instructions against it — especially within a central business district. It’s unsafe for cyclists and pedestrians.

Macomb Orchard Trail: More Asphalt

The Detroit News is reporting that nine more miles of the Macomb Orchard Trail will be paved.

Officials recently authorized the county to seek a low-interest loan to pay for paving those parts of the trail.

“We’ve already submitted our application and it’s being reviewed,” said Bob Hoepfner, the county’s chief highway engineer. “Hopefully we’ll know if it’s approved in about a month. We’d like to get it paved this year if we can.”

There were many complaints about the existing pea gravel surface, so this is certainly good news for cyclists and pedestrians.

Milford Village: Seeking Sidepaths

Another Oakland County government with its DDA was looking to build a side paths for bicyclists (calling them “safety” paths) in spite of the AASHTO bicycle guidelines against it. This sidepath would include 18 intersections in less than one-third of a mile: 2 sidewalks, 3 roads, and 13 residential driveways.

“We asked how can we do this economically,” [Village Manager Arthur] Shufflebarger said. “The DDA went through the options, and said this one was the least expensive.”

They apparently didn’t go through the AASHTO bicycle design guidelines for options. The least expensive option would be an safe, on-road connection.

That said, the?sidepath project was stopped within the same month due to other reasons.

I-275 Metro Trail: Open House

MDOT is scheduling another 5.5 miles of trail reconstruction along I-275 for next spring. This includes rehabilitating “six bridges and two boardwalks, install a pedestrian signal at Ecorse Road and upgrade signs.”

The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) is hosting an open house-style meeting to provide an overview on the 2011 construction work on the I-275 Metro Trail in Wayne County. The project includes reconstruction of the bike path between US-12 (Michigan Avenue) and I-94. Interested stakeholders will have the opportunity to learn details and provide feedback regarding this project.

The open house is August 10th, from 5pm until 7pm at the Fellows Creek Golf Club (2936 South Lotz Road in Canton.)

A couple recent items popped up on the July 27th Detroit City Council agenda that area cyclists might be interested in. Though we’re not certain that they passed, it’s likely they did since they were successfully reported out of committee.

First, a contact to purchase bus bike racks was before council.

Brown, reso. autho. Contract No. 2824443 - 20% State Funding; 80% Federal Funding – To Provide Bus Bicycle Racks, Spare Parts and Associated Hardware – RFQ #33730 Sportworks Northwest, Inc., 15540 Wood-Red Road N.E., Bldg #A-200, Woodinville, WA 98072 – Contract Period: August 1, 2010 through July 31, 2013, with Two (2), One (1) Year Renewal Options – Items (2) Unit Price: $38.00/each to $546.00/each. Lowest Total Bid – Estimated Cost: $353,999.36/Three Years – TRANSPORTATION

DDOT has said they would get bus bike racks on their existing fleet. They’re new buses already have them.

Second, and we’ve mentioned this already, but a grant application for extending the Dequindre Cut was approved by council committee.

Brown, reso. autho. Endorsing the Application to MDNRE Right of Way Acquisition. (DPW intends to submit an application to MDNRE for an amount of $500,000.00 to acquire the Right-of-Way (ROW) needed for the construction of Dequindre Cut, Phase II Project.) (REPORTED OUT OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY STANDING COMMITTEE 07-26-10) WAIVER OF RECONSIDERATION

This grant request would be for the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund, which this year is flush with money. That means it’s very likely the Dequindre Cut grant will be approved. This grant is only to acquire the right-of-way. Additional funds will be required to improve existing bridges over the Cut and to build the trail itself.

MDOT recently announced another round of Transportation Enhancement grants. This funding comes from the federal transportation bill and is the major funding source for bike projects in Michigan.

There are a couple bike-related local projects receiving this funding.

The first is for a Anthony Wayne Drive, which is really a continuation of Second and Third Streets through the Wayne State University campus in Detroit. This street of road will be made into a Complete Street, including more bike lanes. These bike lanes will connect with those planned by the New Center Council on Second Avenue to the north and those planned by the city to the south.

The second project is less exciting from a cycling perspective, though it does include bike racks.

The village of Lake Orion and Lake Orion Downtown Development Authority will develop a project that will create a sense of arrival and enhance the historic nature of a unique downtown district. The project area includes Broadway Street, from M-24 to Shadboldt, and Flint Street, from Lapeer to Anderson. Project elements include replacing streetlight globes and installing brick pavers, benches, bike racks, trees and tree grates. The project cost is $684,535, including $444,948 in federal TE funds and $239,587 in match from the Lake Orion Downtown Development Authority.

The Detroit Free Press is reporting record sales for gas drilling rights on state-owned property.

Michigan oil and gas speculators bet the farm today on a newly developed?natural?gas field in the northern Lower Peninsula, paying well over $140 million for mineral rights at the halfway point of a record-breaking state auction.

The eye-popping auction results are a windfall for the state’s Natural Resources Trust Fund, which gets about 90% of the proceeds to buy recreational and environmentally sensitive property.

The oil and gas rush was apparently touched off by a single, deep well that went into Missaukee County over the winter. The well, owned by a Colorado-based company, has generated intense speculation on a possible boom in the Utica shale formation that underlies much of the northern Lower Peninsula. Utica shale and other deep shale formations have been productive in other states, but never before developed in Michigan.

Whether this is windfall is a long term or a bust remains to be determined.

Nonetheless, this is great news for the Trust Fund which should be able to provide more grant funding for items such as land acquisition and trail development. For example, the Trust Fund has paid for much of Milliken State Park, the RiverWalk, and Dequindre Cut — often through the DNR.

And, there may be a Trust Fund request in the near future for the Inner Circle Greenway — a trail that would combine with others and wrap around the city.

Until recently, the city of Detroit was not eligible for these funds since City Council had not endorsed a new recreation plan. As we reported earlier, Council endorsed the recreation plan which opens the door to more grant funding in Detroit.

Great news!

Shortly after 3pm today, Governor Jennifer Granholm signed the four state park funding bills — collectively known as the Recreation Passport — into law.

The Department of Natural Resources is now working on Question & Answer sheets that explain the effects of this new fundamental change in how our Michigan state parks as well as state forest recreation, are funded.