Mayor Mike Duggan led a community meeting to discuss four streetscape options for W. McNichols just west of Livernois. The first was to rebuild what already existed, a two-lane road with on-street parking on both sides. The second and third options added landscaping and bumpouts. The fourth converted one side of the on-street parking into a two-way bicycle lane.
After a couple hours of community input and discussion, the group voted. It came down to options 3 and 4. While business owners preferred the additional parking in option 3, the city had created an off street parking lot for 88 vehicles — and could add more.
The vote was 39 to 12 in favor of adding the bike lanes. Project construction will begin later this year.
Approaches to Advocacy
Some bicycle and Complete Streets advocates take more adversarial approach (e.g. the War on Cars.). Some bring an intellectual elitism that is willing to belittle local decision making in communities they know little about. We don’t partner with these groups.
We have confidence that Complete Streets can help solve existing community issues like speeding, pedestrian safety, blight removal, access to parks, economic development, etc. The key is to bring all the information to a pragmatic discussion and let the community decide. They may not always support bike lanes and other Complete Streets designs — and advocates may have to live with that.
Certainly there are voices opposing Complete Street designs. While there are valid concerns, most aren’t well support by data. We’ve heard bike lanes emphatically called “the most dangerous thing in Detroit.” We’ve heard bike lanes blamed for causing one persons car crash. (They didn’t. We pulled the police report.) We heard our electronic bike counters on E. Jefferson were wrong because some only saw about three bicyclists in a month. We’ve heard that bike lanes being built for white suburbanites despite the very visible, growing Detroit #bikelife movement.
What have we not heard many say publicly (at least not directly)? That they want to continue driving faster than the speed limit and be able to pass traffic in the curb lane. Bike lanes help curb those unsafe practices. It’s one of the major benefits to bike lanes. They reduce speeding and reduce crashes among everyone: motorists, pedestrians, and bicyclists. Bike lanes are not just for bicyclists’ benefit. They especially improve pedestrian safety in a city with one of the nation’s highest pedestrian fatality rates. They’re like speed humps for major roads.
There will nearly always be opposition any time changes are proposed. There was opposition to the Dequindre Cut before it was built. Once it was a success, the change was embraced, which helped open the door for future greenways in Detroit.
Successful Complete Streets can do the same.
Additional Reading
- Community Streetscape presentation, City of Detroit, January 7th, 2020.
- Streetscape updates set for McNichols Road in Detroit, Detroit News, January 2020.
- Streetscape improvements announced for West McNichols in the Bagley and Fitzgerald neighborhoods, Model D, January 2020.
The City of Detroit is hosting two public sessions titled “Joe Louis Greenway – Cocoa and Conversation”:
The Nature Conservancy and the Detroit Water and Sewage Department (DWSD) led efforts to design, create, and launch the 
A Grant Parklet Community Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, December 3rd at 6pm at the Grandmont Rosedale Development Corporation (19800 Grand River). The new parklet will be located just across the street. As you may recall, Grand River is being reconstructed as a Complete Street with improved sidewalks, crosswalks, and bike lanes.
Most all of the clubs give back. Many volunteer for the 
The bridges over I-375 are at the end of their lifespan. As a result, MDOT took this opportunity to determine if I-375 should be rebuilt as is or convert it to a more typical city boulevard. After a series of public meetings and evaluation, the latter is the preferred alternative.
Have you seen the new bike lanes under construction south of the main hospital on W. Grand Boulevard? These really are a step up from what we typically see on road retrofits. The streetscaping looks great. Some of the road re-alignments should also improve mobility.
The 
Why is the Greenways Coalition involved in a freeway project? Freeways in Detroit have disconnected neighborhoods across the city for those on foot or bike. They disconnect them for motor vehicles, too, which funnels all traffic to use high-stress bridges (e.g. Forest and Warren over the Lodge or Mt. Elliott and Conner over I-94.) While Detroit freeways have pedestrian bridges, they are often poorly maintained and have ramps that dump you onto the service drive with speeding motorists.
The City of Detroit has wrapped up a second round of public meetings for the greenway. This time the conversations dove into more details regarding design, affordable housing, economic development, and more.
History of Greenways in Detroit