Categories
Complete Streets Newsletter

News from the Trail – District 4 Meeting

Thanks to everyone who was able to attend our bike lanes meeting last week. Our goal was to get 30 people in the room and we had about 80. If you were unable to attend, John Gallagher of the Detroit Freep Press wrote this article about why the city should continue building a bike lane network.

Tonight is a Community Meeting with Mayor Duggan for District 4 residents. It’s from 7pm to 8:30pm at the Salvation Army offices, 3000 Conner Avenue just north of E. Jefferson.

If you live in District 4, please try to attend. (If you need a ride to the event, contact us.) Mayor Duggan wants to know whether or not District 4 residents support building better bike lanes within the district.

If you don’t live in District 4, don’t worry. These community meetings will come to every district. What we’re trying to avoid is having a large number of people from outside of District 4 speaking at tonight’s meeting about bike lanes. That could reinforce the thoughts of some residents that these are being built for others.

We recently captured these comments from Mayor Duggan where he emphasizes the bicycling benefits for those within the District.

Bike to Work Day

Another opportunity to influence the Mayor is Bike to Work Day on May 18th. He is scheduled to address the group at 8:15am that morning at Spirit Plaza/CAYMC.  A great turnout would show that Detroit bicycling is more than recreational. We will be emailing more information about the event soon.

Book Discount

Lastly, we have a 25% discount code to share for this new book from Island Press. As you may know, Copenhagenize has been involved in planning work for the Detroit’s Greater Downtown.

Copenhagenize: The Definitive Guide to Global Bicycle Urbanism by Mikael Colville-Andersen has been officially released by Island Press! Copenhagenizeoffers project descriptions and stories of best practices alongside informative visuals to illustrate how to make the bicycle an easy, preferred part of everyday urban life. Use 25% off discount code BIKES to order your copy from Island Press today.
Categories
Complete Streets Greenways Newsletter

News from the Trail – April 2018

Joe Louis Greenway

The City of Detroit is very close to signing off on the acquisition of 8 miles of abandoned rail corridor. Once that is complete, the city will begin Framework Planning for the greenway corridor. Unfortunately Detroit was not awarded a TIGER grant for construction, which is still a ways off.

In the meantime, we’ve update our Joe Louis Greenway map brochure with funding from the Doppelt Family Fund. We’ve updated the greenway’s web page on our site and included a link to a PDF of the map.

We’ve also been attending events to distribute the printed version.

Important Bike Lanes Meeting

We are hosting a public meeting on April 18th from 6pm to 8pm at the Northeast Guidance Center (2900 Conner St, Detroit, MI 48215) to discuss bike lanes in Detroit.

WE REALLY NEED DETROIT BICYCLISTS HERE!

We’ll be presenting on our vision — that the city build and maintain bike lanes, that it prioritizes creating safe connections, that it provides enforcement so that we’re not dealing with vehicles parking in the bike lanes, event barriers, or other obstructions, and that we don’t have standing water in the lanes.  

The Planning and Development Department will present on the new E. Jefferson bike lanes. The Public Works Department will be there to talk about their maintenance plans for these and other Detroit bike lanes. The Department of Neighborhoods will be on hand. We have asked that the Detroit Police Department and Municipal Parking have representatives present as well.

This is a great opportunity for bicyclists to show the city that this is more than just more plastic posts and paint. We need quality, safe infrastructure that will continue to encourage more Detroiters to ride more often.

Other Meetings this Week

Categories
Greenways

Detroit’s TIGER strikes out… for now

The City of Detroit submitted an $18.285 million TIGER grant request last year to construct the Joe Louis Greenway (formerly known as the Inner Circle Greenway.) This $500 million US Department of Transportation grant program is super-competitive but we had high hopes given the value and scope of this great trail project.

However, we learned last Friday that Detroit’s grant wasn’t chosen.

Was this the end of TIGER funding? No one knows. These transportation grants began as part of President Obama’s 2009 stimulus package. They’ve been quite popular with Congress.

In many ways TIGER grants are a more transparent and competitive replacement for the old High Priority Projects (HPP). These project funds would get included in transportation bills in order to get votes in Congress. The Detroit RiverWalk got funding through this, but then so did the infamous Bridge to Nowhere in Alaska.

We certainly do hope that TIGER grants continue for the reason we gave in this recent People for Bikes article: “…there just aren’t very many funding opportunities unless you want to take a really long time to construct it over multiple grants.”

Regardless, progress on the Joe Louis Greenway continues. The city is doing its due diligence (e.g. environmental testing) of the Conrail railroad property. If all goes as expected, they should be purchasing the property this summer.

Once purchased, a Framework Plan will be created for the entire trail, including the portion within Highland Park. This will be a great opportunity for the community to provide their input on the trail’s design and operation.

It’s also a time to look at adjacent land uses and how those might complement the trail. Adding green stormwater infrastructure is a no brainer, as is affordable housing — a tool for mitigating residential displacement from rising property values.

Lastly, our new Joe Louis Greenway map is at the printers now and should be available by spring. A PDF of the map is available now. Thanks to the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy’s Doppelt Family Fund for making this possible.

Categories
Complete Streets Safety & Education

Whose safety? The race of Detroit bicycle & pedestrian fatalities

Studies show that building Complete Streets designed for safer bicyclist and pedestrian travel saves lives. Complete Streets even reduce crashes for motorists by reducing bad behavior.

Studies show that adding on-road bike lanes can cut bicycle-vehicle collisions in half. Bike lanes, bump outs, and medians also reduce pedestrian collisions by effectively shortening the crosswalks.

Complete Streets are invaluable in Detroit given the large number of people dying on our roads each year.

In 2015, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) found Detroit has 6.79 pedestrian fatalities per 100,000 residents — the most of any major U.S. city. That 58% higher than second place Dallas with 4.31. Absolutely unacceptable.

They also reported Detroit’s bicycle fatality rate at 1.48 per 100,000 residents, which is for 26th among the 34 largest U.S. cities. Since bicycle fatalities fluctuate more year to year, we’re not sure how valuable this ranking is.

NHTSA also keeps all road fatalities in their Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) that includes race. We thought it would be interesting to see how bicycle and pedestrian fatalities aligned with Detroit’s overall demographics.

As it turns out, they align very closely.

All Residents (100)Fatalities
Black83%84%
White8%8%
Latino7%5%

Looking at just bicyclists, there were 20 fatalities in Detroit between 2010 and 2016. Among them, 17 were Black (89%), 1 was Mexican, 1 was White/Non-Hispanic, and 1 was unknown.

The average age among these fatalities? 46 years old. 73% are men though that is trending downward.

Some have said we’re building Complete Streets and bike lanes for the new Detroit — a more white, more young. That’s not the case. We’re building them for all, but especially to decrease road fatalities.

The data shows we have a great opportunity to do that.

Categories
Complete Streets Greenways Newsletter Policy

News from the Trail – February 2018

The trails and biking momentum from 2017 has continued into 2018…

Belle Isle Strategic Plan

If you haven’t already heard, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is updating the 10-year strategic master plan for Belle Isle. This plan will shape how the park is operated and developed for years to come. There are two public meetings today, February 1st from 2pm to 4pm and 6pm to 8pm at the Outdoor Adventure Center. At these meetings the DNR will present on the draft plan and give take your comments.

If you are unable to attend, the draft plan is online and comments can be submitted until February 12th.

Quick Updates

  • The Detroit Water and Sewage Department is looking to green up the medians on Oakman Boulevard while also adding stormwater management features. They’ve having  a public meeting about this project this Saturday, February 3rd from 10:30am to noon at the Detroit Police Department 2nd Precint (13530 Lesure Street). What they’re doing here could be a model for greening up other popular biking routes and greenways around Detroit. More details
  • The Michigan Trails Summit is February 6th. The last we heard, the event was very close to selling out. Whether you’re in the event or not, feel free to join us that morning at 6:30am for a casual 3K run from the Marriott Motor Lobby at the Renaissance Center.
  • The Detroit Riverfront Conservancy West Riverfront Park design competition is heating up. The four teams will be making their pitches on February 8th. You can register for that online. Afterwards, their display boards and models will be on display at West Riverfront Park Public Exhibition at 1001 Woodward from February 10 – February 22, with daily hours from 11am until 8pm.
  • Our Joe Louis Greenway map is in final draft form. We expect to have it completed and printed before too long.
  • Our Hamilton Avenue bike lane design project is over half complete. We will then continue to work with Highland Park to get grant funding for construction.
  • We’re working with the Detroit Fitness Foundation for a fundraising event at the new Lexus Velodrome. We hope to have a date in the coming weeks, but it’s looking like March.
  • We were approved by the Michigan State Police get bicyclist and pedestrian crash data and analyze what affects the city’s new public lighting improvements are having. (Hint: it’s positive.)
  • We caught a legislative typo that inadvertently made all local bicycle ordinances enforceable in Michigan without posted signs. Yes, you can now get ticketed for riding in Hamtramck without a bicycle registration or for riding in Highland Park without a bell. We’re working with State Representative Stephanie Chang to get this corrected.
  • Lastly we’re working with multiple parties on greenway along the Rouge River from Hines Drive to Eight Mile. Yes, that’s getting serious!

Special shout out to volunteers Paul Vial and Mark Hall who have been a big help tackling these projects and moving us forward!

Categories
Greenways

Thanks for all your work, Jose Abraham

Jose Abraham shows where the planned Wilkins Connector just off the Dequindre Cut Extension.

Most ride, run and walk the trails throughout the city of Detroit without knowing who helped create them.

One person you should know is our good friend, the recently-retired Deputy Director of the Department of Public Works, Jose Abraham.

Jose started as a Dequindre Cut skeptic. Why convert this decrepit, abandoned rail corridor into a trail? Will it get used?

However, once it was built, he saw its potential and fully bought in. He led efforts on the Dequindre Cut Extension, part of the Link Detroit project. One highlight was landing a major federal TIGER grant to help fund it. Though the city had requested $15 million, the feds only approved $10 million — still a substantial grant.

We’ll never forget an initial TIGER grant meeting with Federal Highway Administration officials where Jose asked if we could scale back the project since we didn’t get all the funding that was requested. The officials said no, the city needed to find another $5 million dollars elsewhere. After a bit of nervous laughter, the meeting continued — and Jose made it happen. (Fortunately the construction bids came in lower than anticipated, too.)

Even before the Extension was under construction, Jose was looking to do more. He picked up Coalition plans for an Inner Circle Greenway, a 26-mile trail encircling the city. “The mother of all non-motorized trails,” as he liked to say. Of course this trail was recently renamed as the Joe Louis Greenway.

We worked closely with him writing grants under his direction, including the successful $3.4 million Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund and $1.2 million MDOT grants. These grants are now being used to acquire nearly 8 miles of abandoned Detroit Terminal Railroad property to close one of the biggest gaps in the Joe Louis Greenway.

We are certainly going to miss working with Jose on the numerous non-motorized projects happening all across Detroit, so many of which he played an instrumental role. This is especially true of the Joe Louis Greenway.

Thanks Jose for all you’ve done getting us to this point. You’re efforts will not be forgotten.