Our August newsletter email just went out. You can view it online.
It mostly contains updates on the new Gordie Howe International Bridge pathway.
Category: Greenways
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Our Map Goes International
- 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.
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.
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!
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Detroit Trails Excluded
Back in 2017, we were made aware that trails within the city of Detroit were not included in the Michigan Trails Magazine — both the print publication and the website — which claims to include “more than 180 of Michigan’s best non-motorized biking, hiking, cross-country skiing, and water trails.”
According to the Internet Archive, the Detroit RiverWalk and Dequindre Cut were shown on the website in 2015.
We contacted the publisher and learned they were removed after they’d experienced an unfortunate smash-and-grab at a Detroit trailhead parking lot. The publisher told us they could no longer recommend Detroit trails to its readers.
They will simply become more easy prey for Detroit’s criminals. I would be doing Detroit’s criminals a big favor sending more easy money their way.
Email correspondence with the publisher, June 2017
We noted that a Macomb County trail had a murder, but that trail remained in the publication.
We shared this issue with the Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance, which we are a member of. The compromise they reached was for the publisher to link to our website’s Detroit Riverfront Trail Network page. When we recently added context to that page explaining this exclusion, the link was removed.
Our Tweet goes Viral
When dropping off our new Detroit Bike and Trail Maps at the Michigan Welcome Center in Southwest Detroit, we saw the magazine and tweeted about this exclusion.
It went viral with nearly 73K impressions in a week’s time, including a very thoughtful response from State Representative Laurie Pohutsky, who chairs the House Natural Resources, Environmental, Tourism and Outdoor Recreation committee.
Next Steps
We’ve patiently waited for a permanent solution to this issue. Our tweet has unexpectedly rekindled discussions on how to move forward on this.
We’ve met with MTGA, MEDC (who manages the Pure Michigan brand), and others. The Detroit News published the article, Michigan’s ‘premier’ trails magazine omits Detroit walkways ($). More groups have plans to release statements. We wouldn’t be surprised if some of the publication’s sponsors weigh in on this as well.
But in the end, it’s a private publication that can choose what to include and what not to.
We will continue doing our best making more people aware of this.
Thanks to Craig Wood and others who brought this to our attention and offered their assistance in this matter.
Our January 2024 newsletter is online with stories on the Joe Louis Greenway, Complete Streets, and much more.
Our December newsletter is now online with updates on greenways, Complete Streets, safety funding, and much more.