The Hamtramck Trail project is moving forward once again.

This is due in part to Hamtramck resident Dick Kaleski and the new Hamtramck Community and Economic Development Director Jason Friedmann.  On Monday, both Dick and Jason were on Detroit Today with Craig Fahle.  If you missed it, there is an MP3 of the show.

Jason was also highlighted last week in a Model D article.

Here’s a brief description of the Hamtramck Trail from the Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance web site:

The Hamtramck Greenway is a planned 1.5-mile that will eventually connect Downtown Hamtramck with the Dequindre Cut and the Detroit Riverfront.  The trail also passes through historic Veterans’ Memorial Park and a diverse community of Polish, Bengali, and Arabic residents.  The Trail is a project of Preserve Our Parks, a 10-year old non-profit community organization in Hamtramck, Michigan.

And actually that is just Phase I of the trail.  There are tentative plans to expand it further and hopefully integrate it with Hamtramck’s Safe Routes to Schools project.

Of course not all the funding is in place for Phase I, but that is being worked on.

The Detroit News ran an article a couple weeks ago about Oakland County Parks completing a Trails Master Plan:

It’s always been a vision in Oakland County: a continuous, linked outdoor trail system that connects communities, downtowns and schools.

But gaps in the system — much of it built on top of old railroad lines — continue.

Bridging those gaps is a major focus of Oakland County’s first Trails Master Plan developed and released by county parks officials last month.

The Trails Master Plan is a beautiful and very professional document.  Electronic copies are available from the Oakland County web site.

And speaking of the Oakland County web site, it has been updated.  If you haven’t checked out their trails web page lately, you should.

It doesn’t seem all that long ago that a group of us were called together by Oakland County Parks in the late 90s.  While they had traditionally limited their involvement to fenced parks, they did note the momentum of trail development across the county.  Our group pushed them in that direction.  They’ve come a long way since then, which is great news for anyone who rides a horse, a bike, or simply walks.

Link: Oakland works to link trails, Detroit News

Here’s information for an upcoming forum on one of Detroit’s most talked about greenways:

The Detroit Riverfront Conservancy is hosting a Community Forum on Tuesday, November 18, 2008 at Friends School at 5:30 p.m.   The October 28th Forum provided an update on the construction of the Dequindre Cut, the Conservancy’s role in the future of the Dequindre Cut and an update on the East Riverfront.

Much has been written about the recent U.S. presidential election, but one question for us is, “How does this affect federal bicycling funding and policy?”

Earlier this year the bike industry met with Senator Obama:

Stan Day, SRAM’s president, said that Obama “gets it.” He pointed out that Obama understands that bicycles can be part of a solution to issues as diverse as health care, obesity, energy and environmental policy. “He does his homework and he can connect the dots,” he said.

After winning the election, Obama’s team created a web site to discuss his upcoming term, its direction, and policy.  And it does discuss bicycling among its urban policy goals:

Build More Livable and Sustainable Communities: Our communities will better serve all of their residents if we are able to leave our cars, to walk, bicycle and access other transportation alternatives. As president, Barack Obama will re-evaluate the transportation funding process to ensure that smart growth considerations are taken into account.

Yes, he “gets it.”

And, two of the names being bandied about for his Transportation Director are major cycling supporters: Earl Blumenauer and James Oberstar.  Both would be a huge boost for bicycling and Safe Routes to School advocates.

But we shouldn’t forget how absolutely awesome it was having a serious mountain biker in President George W. Bush.  That did wonders for the perception of mountain biking as a sport; it’s not just for young folks.

o how soon before Obama is riding mountain bike trails?  Certainly that question has already been asked at IMBA.

Stay tuned…

Here are the preliminary plans for the Dequindre Trail which connects the Dequindre Cut to Tri-Centennial State Park and the Riverwalk.

Note that the trail has more hard surfaces compared with the nearby Dequindre Cut and state park.  This was done since this segment is expected to have more pedestrian traffic.  That is, of course, after the surrounding East Riverfront residential units are developed and occupied.

Click on the image for a larger view.