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Hamtramck Bike Ordinances Updated
The City of Hamtramck had some outdated bicycle ordinances that were restrictive for both youth and adults.
- Youth under 12 years old were only allowed to ride their bikes on sidewalks. That meant they wouldn’t be able to legally ride on the new Joe Louis Greenway that is planned for the Hamtramck alleys west of Jos Campau.
- Youth between 12 and 17 could ride in the streets and alleys but had to carry an operator’s license from the Chief of Police or a note from their parent or guardian.
- Every bicycle ridden in Hamtramck had to be registered either by the city or an adjacent city. The registration would have been required for anyone riding on the Joe Louis Greenway in Hamtramck.
Fortunately these weren’t being enforced, but it made sense to get them off the books. They were burdensome and provided no benefits.
- Under state law, parents and legal guardians are already responsible for their children’s bicycle riding.
- Bicycle registration can help law enforcement return stolen property to their owner. With the advent of the Internet, there are now a couple free nationwide registrations (or through WSU.) In addition, mandatory bicycle registration can be a pretext for stopping any bicyclist.
The City of Detroit had very similar bicycle ordinances, but we helped remove them years ago.
Now they’re removed in Hamtramck thanks to the leadership of newly-elected City Councilperson Amanda Jaczkowski. Ms. Jaczkowski is also an active bicyclist and supporter of the Joe Louis Greenway.
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Connecting the Rouge
From the Connecting the Rouge planning team:
Trails, greenways, and other non-motorized transportation facilities are becoming a critical part of southeast Michigan’s mobility infrastructure. Whether helping to connect people to recreation opportunities and nature, tourists and visitors to local economies, or residents to their schools and jobs such facilities play heavily into the quality of life of the region.
Connecting the Rouge is a community greenway planning effort initiated by Wayne County Parks and funded through a grant from the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation. This effort seeks to improve access to the Hines Drive trail system, the Lower Rouge River Greenway, and the Rouge River Gateway Greenway. This effort identified linkages between neighborhoods, communities, jobs, commercial areas, and destinations throughout the Rouge River valley. Ultimately, the planning process is a chance to take stock of current facilities and position county government, local municipal partners, and other agencies to pursue and implement critical non-motorized connections in Wayne County.
The Connecting the Rouge Framework Plan was developed iteratively through the planning process, incorporating the results of the technical analysis and evaluation as well as stakeholder and community feedback. The framework plan began with the overall network of potential routes and then refined those projects down into a Priority Network of routes that should be pursued first for implementation.
Please take a minute to review the draft report at www.connectingtherouge.org where you can also find a brief overview of the project and a survey to provide feedback.
Our April Newsletter is now online!
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Gloria Durfield-Mitchell
Gloria was a mainstay in Detroit bikelife. Always in purple, she was someone you could count on seeing on a ride — and everyone knew and liked Gloria. She did everything with class and style.
So when the Detroit Greenways Coalition was looking for a bikelife person to serve on the board, she was our first choice. We are grateful for her years of volunteering and support as a boardmember with the Coalition.
Detroit has lost a great one. It’s difficult finding the words that can fully explain this, so we’ll leave you with some of our favorite photos. 💜
For more photos, visit the bike club Gloria founded, the Detroit Diva Cruisers.
What can I do to help?
I can clearly hear Gloria asking me that because she did so many times. She was always willing to volunteer to make good things happen. She may have retired from her job, but she never retired from working.
When we had an open seat on the Detroit Greenways Coalition board, she was our top choice. Yes, her willingness to help was one reason why, but also, she was well loved and respected in the biking and walking community.
She had photos with everyone. In fact, if you weren’t in her photos then you’d have a hard time convincing me that you were part of Detroit bikelife.
She was always a voice of reason. She always took the high ground. I think I can safely say that she never got put in Facebook jail.
We are all going to miss seeing her on the rides this summer, but she will forever ride with all of us.
Thank you, Gloria.
Reflections given at Gloria’s Celebration of Life by Todd Scott, Executive Director of the Detroit Greenways Coalition
Our February Newsletter is now online!