Category: Complete Streets

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Complete Streets Greenways Newsletter

News from the Trail – June 2020

Unity Ride 4 Justice 2020

Unity Ride 4 Justice

We want to thank the Detroit Saints Bike Club for hosting the Unity Ride 4 Justice ride last week. It was inspiring, uplifting, and positive event that reinforced that we are all one family and supporting each other when we ride together.

Virtual Project Meetings

Given the panademic, all public project meetings are now online. Here are some June meetings you may want to check out and provide feedback — 

  • State Long-range Transportation Plan on June 16th at 7 PM and June 17th at 10 AM – Want to help shape how the state of Michigan invests in transportation? MDOT is hosting two telephone town halls to get your input. You must register 3 hours in advance. There’s more information online for this statewide planning project. 
  • Old Redford Neighborhood Link on June 17th at 5:30 PM – This meeting is for sharing your thoughts on community-led activation of public space in Old Redford. This includes public art and cultural programming. Zoom or call in 312 626-6799 with meeting ID 528 771 3400.
  • Parkland Park on June 18th – Wayne County Parks is hosting two public meetings to discuss improvements at Parkland Park in Dearborn Heights, neslted between Rouge Park and Hines Drive: 11 AM – 12 PM (password 630206) and 4 PM – 5 PM (password 003784). The park provides a key connection for the Rouge River Greenway. Please consider joining one of these meetings!
  • Kercheval Streetscape on June 18th from 5:30 PM – The City of Detroit is hosting this meeting to give contruction updates. This project runs from E. Grand Boulevard to Parker and includes improvements for walking and biking. Zoom or call 231 338-8477.
  • Lenox Center/A.B. Ford Park on June 30th at 5:30 PM – The City of Detroit is having a kickoff community meeting for a redesigning project. Zoom, or call  267-831-0333 with meeting ID: 918 1582 7787. They are also gathering input using this survey.

Other Updates

  • Joseph Campau in Detroit is being resurfaced between E. Davison and Carpenter this year. It will be receiving a two-way cycletrack as well since this is a segment of the Joe Louis Greenway.
  • The City of Detroit received the entry-level Bicycle Friendly Community award from the League of American Bicyclists. Like other national awards, it assumes the Census Bureau’s bike to work numbers accurately reflect the amount of bicycling in all cities. That’s not a good assumption in Detroit where bicycling is growing ever popular while its bike to work numbers have dropped significantly.
  • Similarly, People for Bikes ranked Detroit as 22nd among U.S. cities, jumping over a couple hundred other municipalities. Last year Detroit fell over 100 spots in the rankings despite adding more protected bike lane miles than any U.S. city. We don’t place much value in this either since it also makes assumptions with Census data.
  • The planned overhaul of the Detroit zoning ordinances continues, this includes possibly reducing or eliminating parking requirements — something that could lead to denser development that is more walkable and bikeable. We would welcome this.
  • The Detroit Riverfront Conservancy, Eastern Market, Belle Isle Conservancy, Downtown Detroit Partnership and City of Detroit have developed this Detroit Parks Coloring Book. Download the pages for free and start coloring!

Livernois Bike Shop

We want to extend our condolences to the family and friends of Sam Awada, owner of the Livernois Bike Shop, located at the east end of the new Fitzgerald Greenway. Sam’s family says the shop will continue to be open and honor his memory. 

A memorial gathering occured shortly after his passing where many in the community shared their stories of how Sam helped them and others. His nephew mentioned Sam’s adoration of MLK Jr. and how he would play his speeches as the younger kids sat on the floor and listened. Read more about Sam and the shop

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Complete Streets Safety & Education

What are the requirements for a bicycle friendly road?

We received these questions from a Danish Landscape Architect. We thought we’d shared the answers here and get your thoughts as well.

I am working on a project in Detroit and I am interested in understanding how you have decided which roads are bicycle friendly roads and which are not? What are the requirements for a bicycle friendly road?

There are many ways to look at this, but let’s work through some different perspectives:

Infrastructure

The City of Detroit is designing and building roads that are comfortable to use for those from 8 years old to 80 — and for people of all abilities. Whereas initially the City built more traditional bike lanes and bike routes, now they’re looking at biking infrastructure with more separation from moving motor vehicles as a minimum design feature for major roads. This includes separated (or protected) bike lanes and off road trails.

However, Detroit hasn’t added much separation at intersections. We expect to see more of that in future projects.

Many cities are doing this across the U.S., so this answer is not unique. The National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO) provides guidance on how to design streets for all users based on the type of road. Detroit is working on a strategic transportation master plan which we expect will incorporate similar principles.

We would add that some of the designs that accommodate slower, less confidant riders aren’t fully embraced by the faster, more confident riders. That’s a trade off in order to get more people riding. Still, the new infrastructure calms motor vehicle traffic, so riding in the roadway becomes a better option for higher speeds or group rides. State law gives bicyclists the right to use most roadways (freeways being an exception.)

Wide streets with little traffic

Detroit’s street network was built for nearly 2 million residents. It built out a freeway network that then pulled motor vehicles from the surface streets. Over a million residents (and countless businesses) left.

What they left behind were wide roads with very little motor vehicle traffic, especially outside of peak travel periods. These roads are very bike friendly to moderately skilled riders without any specific infrastructure treatments.  It’s these conditions that make large group rides like Slow Roll more doable.

The caveat is this doesn’t make the street safe for everyone.

Safety in Numbers

Some roads are bicycle friendly for those riding in a group but not necessarily for those riding solo. We hear this often, especially with female riders. Many feel safe riding busier roads if they’re with a group, but they wouldn’t ride them as individuals.

This reflects the feeling safety that these bike groups share. Everyone is looking out for each other. Everyone is more visible and it’s less likely anyone is going to “mess with” the group. This is likely one reason why Detroit has more bike clubs than any other U.S. city we know of.

What do you think makes a road bicycle friendly?

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Complete Streets

The Community decides on Complete Streets

Selected W. Michigan streetscape design

Photo from Alexis Wiley’s Twitter feed

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

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Complete Streets Greenways Newsletter

News from the Trail – December 2019

#GivingTuesday

Tuesday, December 5th is #GivingTuesday. We could use your support to help us continue our work into 2020. Any donation would be appreciated.

There are two ways to give:

  • We have a fundraiser on Facebook. Facebook is waiving all transaction fees. They are matching the first $7 million in all donations starting on #GivingTuesday at 8 AM.
  • We also have a donation page on our website with payments handled through PayPal.

Our vision is for a citywide network of safe, convenient, and fun pathways for biking and walking. We’re clearly not there yet despite all the progress made since we began in 2007. The Joe Louis Greenway — a project we helped mature and wrote grants for $4.5 million — is a big start, but there are others. We:

  • Proposed a greenway along the Rouge River and now the intial portions of that are being designed.
  • Advocated to upgrade existing projects, such as the Conner Creek Greenway and the Iron Belle Trail.
  • Helped start the Detroit Complete Streets push years ago and now there are Complete Streets staff at city working on projects across the Detroit.
  • Led advocacy efforts to get a biking and walking trail on the Gordie Howe International Bridge, which will now be connected to the Joe Louis Greenway.
  • Partnered with Highland Park to ensure they are not forgotten in these improvements and wrote a couple grants to design and build their first Complete Street on Hamilton.
  • Have even been involved in freeway projects like I-94 and I-375 to ensure their new designs improve walking and biking in Detroit while reconnecting neighborhoods.

And since 2007, we’ve helped advocate and educate city staff, elected officials, and the public on the value in Complete Streets, bike lanes, parks, and green stormwater management. We need to continue this work and your donation helps. Thank you!

Joe Louis Greenway

The City of Detroit is hosting two public sessions titled “Joe Louis Greenway – Cocoa and Conversation”:

  • Wednesday, December 4th from 6-8pm at the Lexus Velodrome, 601 Mack Avenue (near I-75). Doors open at 5:30pm. The indoor walking track will be open and you can watch bicyclists riding on the track, too.
  • Tuesday, December 10th from 6-8pm at the Unity Baptist Church, 7500 Tireman Street. Doors open at 5:30pm.

It is expected that a updated draft of the Joe Louis Greenway Framework Plan will be presented.

This will be the third and final set of community input sessions the City of Detroit and its design team are organizing.  During the first and second set of community input sessions participants discussed and voted on greenway design elements such as surface, buffers, landscaping, fencing and special features.  The Framework Planning will be completed by February 2020.

Here is the City of Detroit’s most recent routing plan.

Detroit Stormwater Hub

The Nature Conservancy and the Detroit Water and Sewage Department (DWSD) led efforts to design, create, and launch the Detroit Stormwater Hub. We were part of the 25-member advisory team that helped shape, design, test, and market the final product.

What is the Stormwater Hub? It’s a website that shows Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) projects across Detroit — 172 projects as of now!

Greenways and green Complete Streets provide an excellent opportunity to manage stormwater through GSI. Doing this can reduce flooding, improve water quality, and create beautiful natural areas. We expect this website will spur greater interest in building more GSI while complementing our work on Complete Streets and greenways.

Upcoming Events

  • 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.
  • The first community meeting for the Gratiot/7 Mile Neighborhood Framework Plan is Thursday, December 12th. The meeting will be held at The Matrix Center, 13560 E. McNichols. Doors open at 5p. Dinner will be served at 5:30p. The program will begin promptly at 6p. All ages welcome!
  • Free Bikes 4 Kids is seeking volunteers for their bike giveaway days — Saturday, December 14th and Sunday, December 15th. This is when restored bicycles will be distributed to kids in the community. Visit their volunteer signup page to learn more.

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Complete Streets Greenways Newsletter

News from the Trail – September 2019

Iron Belle Trail bridge over I-94

I-94 Project

Riding with MDOT and Planning Director Maurice Cox on a tour of the I-94 project to discuss its impacts on walking and bikingWhy 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 I-94 project in Detroit is one attempt to make improvements. We didn’t like the early designs and starting raising issues a decade ago. With the city’s actions, MDOT has proposed major design changes. Key bridges we bike and walk over will no longer be permanently removed — and they’ll be improved. Those pedestrian bridges will be converted to Complete Streets with wide sidewalks, bike lanes, and no ramps. They’re will be fewer new service drives.

One major highlight is the new Iron Belle Trail/Conner Creek Greenway trail segment and bridge over I-94. This provides a safer alternative to the busy (and getting busier thanks to FCA) Conner Avenue.

We’ve written more about this update on our web site with links to MDOT’s Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement or DSEIS.

Public comments on the DSEIS can be submitted through October 28th. MDOT is hosting two public meetings on October 10th in Midtown and on the Eastside. The email address for comments is MDOT-I94comments@michigan.gov.

Though not part of the DSEIS, the Second Avenue bridge over I-94 is getting rebuilt next year and it will be a major improvement for non-motorized users. The Cass bridge will be replaced in 2021. The entire project won’t be done until about 2036, so stay healthy in order to be around for the grand opening.

Joe Louis Greenway

Discussion of affordable housing & economic development on the Joe Louis GreenwayThe 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.

One of the biggest changes has been the greenway’s routing in Southwest Detroit. We had originally proposed that the greenway follow W. Vernor since it already had bike lanes and was part of the Southwest Detroit Greenlink. However, the current bike lanes are not ideal and certainly not family friendly. The road is not wide enough for other designs that would preserve the well-used vehicle parking. So, the city is routing the greenway further south and using W. Jefferson. This change connects more points of interest, including the recently renovated Riverside Park, Fort Wayne, the Gordie Howe International Bridge, Woodmere, and Patton Park.

The Framework Plan is expected to be completed by February.

History of Greenways in Detroit

We worked with Gwen Gell from the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of Michigan who created this amazing report: The Legacy of Bicycles in Detroit Michigan: A look at greenways through time.

Detroit’s automotive heritage casts a heavy shadow over its trails and bicycling history. This report helps shine a light on the latter.

As summary of it with the graphic timeline is now on our web site. There’s also a link to the full PDF version.

Other News

  • Atwater Beach/Valade Park construction continues on the RiverWalk. There’s no announced opening date as of yet but we expect it to be in late October.
  • Spirit Plaza is under construction as it receive an $800,000 upgrade after Council voted to make it permanent.
  • The city’s numerous Complete Streets projects are under construction as well, including Jos Campau (part of the Jos Campau greenway), Bagley Street (part of the Iron Belle Trail), and Livernois (part of the Joe Louis Greenway.) These are major reconstruction projects that are affecting local businesses along them. Please consider supporting these businesses.
  • We recently biked over to Windsor (using the Tunnel Bus bike racks!) to present at the Trans-Canada Trail – Ontario annual meeting. They were very interested in learning what is happening with Detroit and Michigan trails now that we will eventually  be connected via the Gordie Howe International Bridge. There is a great deal of interest in how we promote trail tourism on both sides of the border.
  • We were recently featured on the Beaumont Housecall podcast with Dr. Asha Shajahan. We talked about biking, trails, health and much more.
  • We continue to be involved in the electric scooter discussion, including this recent Bridge article, E-scooters are fast, unregulated and all over Detroit. What could go wrong? We think scooters are another good reason to have a protected bike lane network in Detroit.

Upcoming October Events

  • Conant Streetscape Project community meeting, October 2nd 5:30pm at the Lasky Recreational Center, 13200 Fenelon Street. More details
  • Free Bikes 4 Kidz is looking for donated used bikes for Detroit youth. The big donation day is Saturday, October 5th from 9am to 2pm at 22 Henry Ford Health System locations across Metro Detroit. They are also seeking volunteers. Please help make this program even more successful than last year’s.
  • There isn’t an Open Streets in Detroit this year, but Dearborn is hosting their first! It’s Sunday, October 6th from 11am to 3pm. More details
  • Two community workshops are planned for Corktown on October 9th and 10th. They are focused on transportation, including parking, streetscapes, circulation (e.g. 1 & 2-way traffic), and mobility. These workshops are also in partnership with the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) who is kicking off a Michigan Avenue Planning & Environmental Linkages Study. This 16-month MDOT study will “formalize a future” for Michigan Ave., from Campus Martius to I-96/75 interchange.
  • Lastly, the Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance is having their Annual Meeting on October 19th at Belle Isle. It’s a free event but you must register. As part of the event, we are leading a short bike tour at 10am, but there’s also a paddle trip and history walk.

For the most recent news, follow us on Twitter and Facebook

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Complete Streets Greenways

Newly proposed I-94 design looks much improved

Riding with MDOT and Planning Director Maurice Cox on a tour of the I-94 project to discuss its impacts on walking and biking

Riding with MDOT and Planning Director Maurice Cox on a tour of the I-94 project to discuss its impacts on walking and biking

MDOT is reconstructing nearly seven miles of I-94 through the heart of Detroit. The original approved design in 2004 removed many bridges that bicyclists and pedestrians rely on. It also called for new service drives to be added, widening the freeway’s footprint and making the urban environment less walkable and bikeable. The impacts were alarming.

Fortunately there are new design changes being proposed that address these issues — changes that have been supported by the City of Detroit, Detroit Greenways Coalition, and others.

Those changes are in MDOT’s recently released Draft Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (DSEIS) for the I-94 project.

This DSEIS looks at:

  • Using existing city streets more effectively as local connections instead of building new, continuous service drives adjacent to the freeway
  • Modifying local access ramps to and from I-94, M-10 and I-75 to improve operations and safety
  • Using the “Complete Streets” approach to design bridges and service drives, making them user-friendly for drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians
  • Reducing the overall Project footprint to avoid and minimize impacts

The DSEIS did not reevaluate the need for two additional freeway lanes.

Public comments on these design modifications can be submitted through October 28th. MDOT is hosting two public meetings on October 10th in Midtown and on the Eastside. The email address for comments is MDOT-I94comments@michigan.gov.

Our Initial Thoughts

What we like:

  • Iron Belle Trail/Conner Creek Greenway – The separated trail bridge just west of the Conner Avenue interchange is great. It separates trail users from the heavily trafficked road as well as the on- and off-ramp traffic. It adds some parkland, too. This is a major improvement.
  • John R, Canfield & Ferry bridges – These bridges provide key non-motorized connections and all remain in place with the new plan.
  • Complete Streets bridges versus pedestrian bridges – We don’t like narrow, elevated pedestrian bridges with long ramps as proposed in the original plan. All of the pedestrian bridges will now be narrow roads with bike lanes and wide sidewalks. They will provide the shortest travel distance with no climbing, awkward turns, or blind run-outs on to service drives.
  • Re-aligning bridges – The Holden bridge lines up with Holden! It’ll be a straight shot for all traffic and it helps complement a greenway and streetscape project in that area. Also, the Canfield bridge gets shifted south and will not longer terminate at the northbound service drive. Four Tops will connect to Calumet.
  • Reconnecting city grid – Yes, there are still some bridges lost, but there are many got added back in as well as new ones, e.g. Hastings and Harper.
  • Reducing service drive impacts – Many of the new service drives proposed in the original plan have been dropped. They ones that remain won’t be as wide and will have narrower travel lanes to help slow speeding. Some will be converted to two-way as well.

What we don’t like:

  • Losing the Third Street bridge – There’s no real way around this. What we continue to ask for is a better non-motorized connection from Third Street to Second along the north side of I-94. Ideally that connection would avoid the school vehicle traffic on Antoinette.

One area we want to further review is green stormwater management. It is mentioned, but it appears less specific than we would prefer. What’s quite specific is this project increase impervious surface area by 78.55 acres.

It’s also unclear how the new Harper Avenue extension would cross the proposed Joe Louis Greenway routing near the existing rail line west of St. Aubin. (The plan references the previous Greenway routing on St. Aubin.)

While not related to our work, it’s worth noting that the new plan  saves the United Sound Systems building by moving it one parcel north.