Governor Rick Synder continues to push forward on the New International Trade Crossing (NITC) bridge between Detroit and Windsor. Given the apparent lack of support within his own party, the governor may now “go it alone” according to the Detroit Free Press.

One question we hear often is will the new bridge allow bicyclists and pedestrians along with motor vehicles?

But first, let’s mention that the Ambassador Bridge used to allow both on a narrow sidewalk — a sidewalk that is no longer there after the most recent re-decking. Without access to the Tunnel or operating ferry service, bicyclists have no convenient means to cross between the two countries. (Pedestrians can use the Tunnel Bus.) Could the NITC be an answer?

No one knows for certain whether we’ll get bicycles on the NITC as of today, but here’s what the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) says:

The new bridge over the Detroit River and the plaza will be engineered to accommodate bicycles and pedestrians. U.S. Customs and Border Protection and its Canadian counterpart (Customs and Border Services Agency) will determine whether this traffic is allowed. All facilities will be designed to meet Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) standards. This will include sidewalks along the roads to be repaved as part of the project. This will be an upgrade at many facilities as they were built before the ADA requirements were established.

“Engineered to accomodate” is further defined in the 2008 Bridge Structure Study:

Initially, the section consists of three lanes in each direction, with a 1m flush median between travel directions and 3m outside shoulders. A sidewalk is only currently required on the U.S. bound approach to the toll and inspection plaza. This sidewalk is separated from the shoulder with a traffic barrier. A 1.066m metal railing provides fall protection on the outside of the sidewalk.

The designs show this sidewalk is 5.2 feet wide and more like a shared-use path. And having this path on the U.S. bound is smart since bikes and pedestrians will have the best views of both downtown skylines.

There are also 10 foot shoulders on both sides of the bridge.

The bad news? The Study says that if there’s increased motorized traffic, the path would be removed and the shoulders narrowed in order to add more lanes. However, we doubt traffic demands would necessitate that.

This brings up another question. would they allow a cyclist without a passport to pay the bridge toll, bike to the middle of the bridge, enjoy the view, then return back to their respective county?

MTGA Comments

During the FEIS process, the Michigan Trails and Greenways made these comments and received MDOT responses.

Similar comments were made during the Canadian Environmental Assessment process, however they do not appear to have published written responses.

The Free Press special report Living with murder: Complete coverage contains some positive coverage of Detroit residents building community. One story highlights bicycling’s role in the community fabric.

The brothers have lived for 40 years in a run-down house on the corner of Bessemore and Georgia. They’re members of The East Side Riders, a custom-bicycle club that gathers for casual rides. They hold workshops for neighborhood kids to show them simple things such as how to change a flat tire, to more difficult tasks such as customizing — or tricking out — their bikes. What started as fun has become a crime-fighting tool.

When the bodies of women were being found scattered on the east side inside abandoned houses and lots in the summer of 2009, the brothers rode around, handing out flyers and warning women not to walk alone. On Angels’ Night, the eve before Halloween, they’ve patrolled the neighborhood. They even ride along with children as they walk to and from school.

“We just want to keep it safe where we live,” said David Jarrell, 47.

This article also shows the great value places like the Hub of Detroit bring to the community. It’s great that we can find millions to build walking and biking facilities, but it’s challenging to find those same kinds of dollars for this bicycling support network. Both need to be supported if we’re to be successful in getting more Detroiters choosing bicycles.

Sharrows on Gratiot and Fort Street

Recently the East Side Riders asked for bike lanes on Gratiot, a route they often ride to get Downtown and to the RiverWalk. That request was passed along to MDOT. Years ago MDOT had discussed adding bike lanes to Gratiot but that would have removed the on-street parking – a non-starter for the city.

Now MDOT is looking to simply add sharrows, shared lane markings that remind motorists to share the road while providing guidance to cyclists on where to position themselves on the road. MDOT hopes to have them installed next year from Conner Avenue/Conner Creek Greenway to the Dequindre Cut. These may be a forerunner to some eventual bike lanes.

We recently spoke with Tim Springer from Springer Consulting in Minneapolis. He visited Detroit to share his experience with their Midtown Greenway and look at opportunities in Detroit.

One of his thoughts was to add separated two-way cyclepaths to our major spoke roads such as Gratiot and Grand River. Yes, it would take away some vehicle travel lanes, but those roads have extra capacity. While surveys find many Detroit residents would feel comfortable riding in bike lanes on major roads, other cities are finding that many more would feel comfortable on physically-separated bike lanes. And as Springer noted, the spoke roads are often the fastest routes to get across the city so we should prioritize investing in them for better bicycling.

As for sharrows, MDOT is also looking to add them on Fort Street in Southwest Detroit, a route used by the Underground Railroad Bicycle Route.

Here are just three potential changes which could greatly affect road funding — including bike funding — throughout Michigan.

The Good

According to Crain’s Detroit Business, Governor Rick Synder will call for changes to how Michigan collects tax revenues on motor vehicle fuel. Rather than collect a fixed amount per gallon sold at the pump, he is proposing a percent rate on the wholesale fuel cost. While it won’t raise taxes initially, the total taxes collected will increase with inflation and fuel price increases.

It makes sense to us.

Getting the state legislature to increase the fuel tax, something that hasn’t happened in 14 years, is difficult. The Governor’s proposal removes the need to vote on any tax increases.

The Bad

According to the Spinal Column newspaper, State Senator Howard Walker, a Republican from Traverse City, also wants to eliminate fuel taxes at the pump. He wants to replace the lost tax funding by raising the state sales tax by 1%.

That’s right. Rather than have motorists pay for roads, everyone would.

Those who drive more, say perhaps people in northern parts of the state, would pay less for their roads while those who drive less or not at all would pick up the tab. This proposal would subsidize driving more than we already do.

According to a recent national study, only 51% of road costs are paid by road users. This drop that percentage further with the difference coming from general tax sources.

The Ugly

The Washington Post has this article outlining the very real possibility that Transportation Enhancement funding could be stripped from the next federal transportation bill — or at least made optional at the state level. Enhancements represents about 2% of the total transportation bill.

Losing Transportation Enhancement funding would be devastating to bike facilities development in Michigan and across the U.S..

This is a primary source of funding for on-road improvements, like the 16 miles of new bike lanes in Southwest Detroit. This funding also supports trail development such as the Detroit RiverWalk and Dequindre Cut. And finally, it’s also used for streetscaping which improves walkability while often providing bike parking.

While cyclists and others have banded together to fight off prior attacks on this funding, times are different.

Please contact your Congressperson to let them know we cannot lose Transportation Enhancements.

The city of Berkley is primed for becoming more bike-friendly. It has a solid street grid pattern throughout the city. You can bike most anywhere using residential streets. Biking to downtown Berkley is relatively easy, while routes to downtown Royal Oak, Beaumont Hospital and the Detroit Zoo could be made better.

There is room for other improvements as well. Some ideas include:

• Redesigning the arterial streets as Complete Streets
• Improving connections across Woodward Avenue
• Adding meaningful bike route signs (with wayfinding) on those residential streets
• Proving more bike parking

Berkley did pass a Complete Streets resolution last year.

Also, Berkley Live community magazine just published an article on biking in the city.

“Biking is easy, especially when anything you need is within two square miles,” Berkley City Councilwoman Lisa Platt-Auensen says.

That’s why Auensen can often be seen around town, peddling to and from the grocery store, the video store, the pharmacy, her job in downtown Royal Oak, and even city council meetings.

“Being on a bike helps you notice things you wouldn’t, like ‘Hey, there’s a new store opening up on the corner,’ or, ‘Oh, look, the neighbors did something nice to their yard,’” Auensen says. “It just adds so much to your day.”

Berkley Bicycle Dinner Cruise

And on Wednesday, September 14th at 6pm, the Berkley Environmental Advisory Committee is hosting a 6-mile Dinner Cruise bicycle ride.

Not yet ready to give up on summer fun? Then join the members of the Berkley Environmental Advisory Committee for a casual, low speed, relaxed dinner cruise for the whole family! We will follow the Berkley Bicycle Route on a short tour Berkley neighborhoods on our way to dinner at Bagger Dave’s followed by ice cream at Clarks Ice Cream.

The ride begins at the Community Center Parking lot on Catalpa next to the Jr. High tennis courts. The rain date is the 15th.

More information on this ride is on Facebook.

MDOT Training Wheels

Berkley is also hosting a highly-recommended MDOT Training Wheels program this year.

Training Wheels is an educational course on the planning and design of on-road bicycle facilities. It will consist of two hours of classroom instruction on the AASHTO Guide for the Development of Bicycle Facilities, followed by an on road, on bike portion. During this portion we will casually ride through the cities of Berkley, Royal Oak and Huntington Woods, analyzing types of on-road facilities available. There will be many stops to point out potential facility types, followed by a group exercise and discussion, questions from participants and a brief wrap-up.

More information is on the City of Berkley web site.

There are plenty of bike infrastructure investments in Corktown these days. Here’s one more.

MDOT is doing streetscaping along Michigan Avenue between 14th and Rosa Parks (12th). Streetscaping is a big word for enhancing the sidewalks. Included in that streetscaping is much needed bike parking — a nice complement to the bike lanes installed last fall.

M-Live has more coverage:

MDOT is fully funding the project, which will benefit the up-and-coming retail strip that includes Slows Bar B Q and the newly-opened Astro Coffee.

“There’s a lot of activity going on there,” MDOT’s Vince Ranger told MLive.com. “It doesn’t look good to have these businesses renovating fronts with bad sidewalks. So we’re just trying to clean that up for them.”

To learn more about this project, MDOT is hosting an open house at the Gaelic League on September 7th from 4pm until 6pm.