Author: Todd Scott, Executive Director

Categories
Climate Action Policy

Windsor e-bike Restrictions

Thanks to Share the Road Essex County, we recently learned that e-bikes are not allowed on pathways in Windsor, Ontario. While they are allowed on the road and in bike lanes (as in Michigan), city bylaws prohibit them from paved paths and park trails.

This could affect e-bike use on the Gordie Howe International Bridge’s multi-use pathway — or at least on the pathways connecting to the bridge plaza.

Interestingly enough, e-scooters are not restricted from paths, whereas e-cargo bikes are not allowed on any road, bike lane, or path.

We reached out to City of Windsor officials and shared our concerns about how this differs from the rules on our side of the border. We passed along resources on our regulations, recommendations (e.g. MTGA e-bike Toolkit) and experiences with these devices on our trails.

They have been having some discussions about potential changes at both the municipal and provincial levels.

The City may take the following short-term actions…

Traffic By-law Updates: To address emerging safety and regulatory challenges posed by micromobility devices, the City could consider targeted by-law updates to ensure it accurately reflects which micromobility devices are permitted and prohibited, including specific provisions for regulating e-bikes on multi-use paths, where they are currently prohibited.

It’s good to see Windsor considering the positive impacts of these powered devices.

Increasing the safe and lawful use of micromobility modes of transportation, such as ebikes and e-scooters can help the city reduce its community greenhouse gas emissions by replacing short car trips with low carbon alternatives.

We will track this and report back on their updates. There are undoubtably a good number of Detroit e-bike users wanting to explore the pathways in Windsor, including the one on the bridge.

Categories
Greenways

Our Map Goes International

Map showing bike and train infrastructure in Detroit and Windsor
  • We’re working to make it easier riding in Ontario.
  • The updated online map shows bike and trail infrastructure in Windsor and Essex County.
  • Some Metro Detroit trails have been added with more to come pending SEMCOG open data updates.

The multi-use pathway on the Gordie Howe International Bridge changes everything. This new border crossing means bike rides are no longer constrained to one side of the river.

In partnership with Bike Windsor Essex, we’re working to make this easier thanks to Gordie Howe International Bridge’s Community Benefits Plan funding. One of the deliverables is making our existing online bike and trail map international. That work is largely complete.

We didn’t want to manually add Southwest Ontario bike and trail infrastructure like we had in Detroit. Fortunately both the city of Windsor and Essex County have this information available through open data portals. We now pull that information each night to ensure our map is up to date.

Bike sticker with a map QR code

We’ve also added some Metro Detroit trails outside of the city, e.g. Hines Drive and Downriver Linked Greenways. While SEMCOG has this data in their open data portal, it’s not designed for this use. The good news is SEMCOG is working to improve this, which should allow us to add more Metro Detroit trails in the future.

Another new feature? We now show ferry routes.

While the map only shows existing infrastructure, we had people ask about major projects that are under construction. So, the current routes for the Joe Louis Greenway, Iron Belle Trail, Windsor Loop, and Waterfront Trail can now be highlighted using their respective menu options.

More to come

There is one more item to add: Bird Canada’s bike and scooter rentals in Windsor. They don’t use docks like MoGo, so we do need to update our software. We are looking to make updates that would allow us to show Detroit’s dockless scooter, too.

Lastely, we are creating bike frame stickers with a QR code to the map. We envision bicyclists sticking this on their bike frame to make bringing the map up on their phone a little easier. We hope to have those stickers soon.

Categories
Policy

Active People, Healthy Nation

The government of Detroit, Michigan recognizes the importance of providing access to safe and convenient places to be physically active for people regardless of age, race, income, socio-economic status, disability status, and geographic location

At the urging of the American Heart Association, we wrote a proclamation expressing Detroit’s support of the Centers for Disease Control’s Active People, Healthy Nation initiative. We submitted the proclamation to the Mayor’s Office, which was officially adopted.

While approved in a modified form without the resolutions, those resolutions were previously adopted in city plans.

Increasing Physical Activity Through Community Design: The City’s Streets for People Plan will help to make it safe and easy to walk, bicycle, or wheelchair roll for people of all ages and abilities by improving the design of Detroit  with Complete Streets that connect destinations such as public transit, grocery stores, schools, worksites, libraries, parks, and health care facilities. 

Access to Places for Physical Activity: The City’s Parks and Recreation Strategic Plan will create or enhance access to places for physical activity, including parks, greenways, recreation centers, and programs

According to the CDC website, Kent County is the only other Michigan community to have passed a similar proclamation. However, it’s unclear if the CDC is actively maintaining the list of communities that have

Categories
Complete Streets Events Greenways Newsletter Policy

Looking back on 2025

When we started this work over 18 years ago, the pace of improvements for biking, walking and rolling was no where near as impressive as it is today. Where we used to have to scrape for news to share, we now have too much to report — and this is a good thing. So, if we were to put together a 2025 double-record greatest hits album, below are the tracks!

Read More

Categories
Complete Streets

I-375 Project Changes

Despite rumors of its eminent death, the I-375 replacement project is continuing to move forward albeit with changes.

In August, the Governor paused the project ($) primarily due to its increasing costs and local business concerns about disruptions during construction. In September, Eric Larson, CEO of the Downtown Detroit Partnership offered the “only viable solutions” in an opinion piece ($): Break the project into two phases or just rebuild it as is. Needless to say, we didn’t support the latter solution. (Surprisingly, Mayor Duggan did appear to support an I-375 rebuild when we asked him.)

We continued our conversations with MDOT, DDP, and Kresge Foundation. In the end, we felt we could support a two-phase approach. It was better than what we had.

The first phase would replace I-375 south of Gratiot with a boulevard as previously envisioned. It would remove the “Jefferson Curve” and address the three failing bridges (Jefferson, Lafayette and Larned). It would also address the failing Gratiot bridge over the Dequindre Cut. It would include a two-way cycletrack from Gratiot to the RiverWalk, which we really like.

The second phase would be a redesign of the I-75 interchange and the removal of the Fisher Freeway stub connection to Gratiot. This gives MDOT more time to work with major stakeholders in that area, specifically Eastern Market businesses, and develop better strategies for limiting negative impacts during construction. Unfortunately, the Montcalm cycletrack between Ford Field and Eastern Market would get pushed back to this later phase. We didn’t like hearing that this could be pushed back by 10 years or so.

Will the USDOT support this? We’ll find out. Their grant covers a large portion of the costs.

If you missed the November 2025 community meeting that discussed much of the above, there is a livestream recording available. The presentation and displays will eventually be added to MDOT’s I-375 Detroit webpage.

Categories
Policy

Belle Isle event permits

Black Girls Do Bike contacted us about new permitting requirements for any bike group that rides on Belle Isle — even for group rides they didn’t start on the island. We felt these were impractical and burdensome, so we worked with the DNR and Belle Isle Conservancy to arrive at the more reasonable requirements outlined below. Most club rides won’t require a permit.

Belle Isle Permitting Requirements

Q. Does my group run or ride event need a DNR permit to be on Belle Isle? 

A. Maybe!

For events starting or ending on Belle Isle, you need a permit when…

  • People must pay or donate to participate
  • There are 20 or more people

For all events, even those not starting on the island, you need a permit when…

  • Natural resources or facilities are impacted beyond normal recreational use
  • Traffic pattern alteration is required (i.e. closing travel lanes)
  • Directional signage will be placed for the event
  • DNR oversight is required
  • The use of park facilities is not consistent with current rules (i.e. riding in an area not designated for bikes)

In some cases, the park may waive a permit requirement after reviewing your permit application.

Note that these rules aren’t unique to Belle Isle. They’re mostly the same for all state parks, including Milliken State Park.

To get a permit, or if you are still unsure if one is required, email DNR-BelleIsleParkEvents@michigan.gov

Belle Isle facility reservations and commercial use