Bicycle Use Master Plan underfunded

The Windsor Star has a brief mention of the city of Windsor’s bicycling efforts, which according to some bicycling advocates is moving too slowly.

Members of the Windsor Bicycling Committee and the advocacy group Bike Friendly Windsor were at Wednesday’s capital budget meeting to implore council to devote more money to the Bicycle Use Master Plan (BUMP).

Drafted by the city in 2001, the 20-year plan was meant to show the city’s commitment to building an “easily accessible, safe and actively used” cycling network.

But Steve Konkle of Bike Friendly Windsor said BUMP has been the victim of “chronic underfunding.”

According to Konkle, Windsor has less than 25 miles of bike lanes.

Bike Train now daily

The Ontario Bike Train is now daily. The train makes it easy for cyclists to get between Windsor, London, Toronto, and other cities in Ontario. Bicycle racks are available for cyclists.

We spoke with Justin LaFontaine, Projects Director for Transportation Options and the founder of the Bike Train initiative. He said the big buzz among Toronto cyclists is riding in Detroit. And while they can take the bike train to Windsor, there is no option for them to get to Detroit.

They have had conversations with the Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority about ferry service across the Detroit River. The Port Authority is very interested in helping make that international connection for cyclists.

Until there is a convenient way for cyclists to cross the border, Detroit-area cyclists can drive to the Windsor train station. There’s also this interesting web site with the tag line, “Explore Ontario by bike. Stop at bicycle friendly places to eat, visit and sleep.”

What about AMTRAK?

One obvious question is what about bicycles on AMTRAK? The Pere Marquette and Blue Water lines should be getting roll-on bicycle service. However, we do not know about the Wolverine line, the line between Pontiac, Detroit, Ann Arbor, and Chicago. That line is not subsidized by MDOT and therefore is not required to have roll on service per an MDOT appropriations bill. We’re waiting to hear if AMTRAK will provide roll on service nonetheless.

Curb running trains and tracks aren't safe for bicyclists on Woodward

The city of Detroit is collecting comments on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for the proposed light rail project on Woodward. Those comments are due today, March 14th.

The DEIS is large, technical, and not always fun to read. It does provide three alternatives. One difference between the three is where the tracks would be located on Woodward south of Grand Boulevard: in the center or at the curbs.

We agree with the DEIS assessment that the curb-running alignment would have a negative impact on bicycling. For that and other reasons, we support Alternative A1 with median running light rail for the entire route.

This amazing video from Transport Michigan also supports median running. This video has gone viral as we’ve received it from a number of different sources.

Some other thoughts we had:

• Adding a two-way cycle track on the east side of Woodward that connected Ferndale’s existing Hilton bike lanes to the proposed park and ride just north of the State Fairgrounds.
• Adding bike lanes or cycle tracks on Woodward from McNichols to Eight Mile. Woodward is unnecessarily wide and could be road dieted.
• Adding sharrows where bike lanes cannot be added.
• Improve the parallel streets for bicycling (Second, Third, Brush, John R) by adding bike lanes/sharrows and by making them two-way for their entire length.
• Allowing bikes to roll on to the trains.
• Having bike parking (preferably covered) at the transit stations.
• Consider future implementation of a public bike sharing system located at the transit stops.

Don’t forget that the M1 Light Rail public hearings are tomorrow, Saturday February 12th.

There are two meeting options. The first is from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. with a presentation at 11:30 a.m.; the second from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. with a presentation at 4:30 p.m. The public may participate in one or both events, which will be held at the Main Detroit Public Library, Lower Level Auditorium, 5201 Woodward Avenue, Detroit, MI 48202.

Note that earlier information showed the second meeting starting at 6 p.m. That was incorrect! It begins at 4 p.m.

As we’ve said before, this is a great opportunity to talk about the importance of this project positively impacting bicycling in Detroit. That means improving conditions for bicyclists using the train, riding to the transit stops, riding on Woodward, and riding across Woodward. This is an opportunity to make Woodward  a Complete Street.

And here is a video from WXYZ’s Detroit 20/20 project which provides more information on the project as well as a discussion on its potential extension into Oakland County.

Bikes on Buses

All SMART buses and about half of DDOT buses now have bicycle racks. DDOT expects all of their buses to have racks by the first quarter of 2011.

Weren’t they talking about possibly three-bike racks? Yes, but we were told there was an apparent design problem with those racks. When loaded, they blocked the bus left headlight. Not good. DDOT is also looking at funding bike racks near their transit stops.

DDOT’s Bikes on Buses brochure is on-line (PDF).

Lighting the viaduct

Model D is reporting on an effort by 100 Points of Light to light the W. Vernor viaduct at the Michigan Central Station.

Armed with a grant from Kresge Community Arts, the group — comprised of siblings Mary Beth and Patrick Carolan and Robert Reese — propose a series of solatubes paired with chandeliers inspired by those once found in the depot that are powered by light stored in solar panels. Eventually, excess power generated would be sold back to the grid, creating the possibility that the concept becomes not only self-sustaining, but profitable.

Over the next few months, 100 Points of Light will focus on cleaning up the underpass and replacing existing bulbs with high-efficiency LEDs while planning for installation gets underway.

A better lit viaduct will be very welcomed by cyclists. The darkness makes it difficult to see road hazard. Also, it’s difficult knowing how well motorists can see cyclists there. More light would be great.

The lack of light is one reason why the W. Vernor bike lanes (to be installed next year) end before going under the viaduct.

RiverWalk progress

A DNRE official was on the Craig Fahle show discussing the cleanup of the Uniroyal site. This site is on the Detroit River between two completed sections of the RiverWalk: Gabriel Richard Park and Mt. Elliot Park. Site cleanup could begin as early as next spring. This is a necessary step before this critical RiverWalk segment can be constructed.

And this Sunday the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy is leading a free guided tour of the RiverWalk from 10am until 11am at the Rivard Plaza. There are more details on their Facebook page. They are asking attendees to RSVP by tomorrow by sending an email to rsvp@detroitriverfront.org.

Reaching our goals together

There was a Greens Streets and Highways Conference in Denver this week. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood wrote about it on his blog, including this quote:

We have the tools, and are developing even more tools, to make sure that transportation doesn’t have to be a zero-sum game. Highway advocates, environmentalists, car owners, truckers, pedestrians, bicyclists, and preservationists can all reach their goals–together.

No more excuses for Metro Detroit road agencies.

We need leaders who find solutions to problems rather than continuing to find problems with solutions.

Time Magazine included this quote from Toni Griffin. Ms. Griffin is a lead consultant for the planning effort to re-imagine Detroit, now called the Detroit Works Project.

Detroit is the only metro region in the U.S. without a metro transportation authority. If we begin to think about the role of transportation in the region differently, how we move from place to place becomes a crucial question. Efficiency — and the idea that we shouldn’t have to rely on a car so much — becomes part of the question. I like to think of Detroit not just as the home of automobile innovation. It’s the home of transportation innovation.

We’d like to see more mention of other transportation modes beyond cars and transit. We have shared that information with the planning team.

This is likely a case of light rail being more sexy than biking.

We know bicycling is huge opportunity that provides one answer to How will things move?

We wanted to mentioned one interesting story told by Susan Zielinski, a managing director at UM SMART at this week’s CEO for Cities conference. Zielinski moved from Toronto to Detroit and quickly learned that cars are transportation. Everything else is alternative transportation.

She said that’s like saying men are just alternative women.

We’d talked about the term alternative transportation before but this was a clever retort worth sharing (and re-using.)