Detroit Greenways Coalition
This video about Detroit — our history and bike infrastructrure — is really one of the best and we’re not saying that just because we’re in it. Nic Laporte created a well-balanced overview of where we’ve been and where we’re heading.
The video also has us talking about the history of stop streets and stop signs, which is something we plan to write more about. We believe this is an important perspective, especially when it comes to bicycling and Idaho stop laws.
The Detroit Historical Museum has an interesting photo in their collection. It’s a group shot of the Detroit Rambler Bike Club from 1896. What makes it so unique is the Black bicyclist standing prominently in the center behind the club banner.
We shared this photo with Andrew Ritchie, author of Major Taylor: The Extraordinary Career of a Champion Bicycle Racer. He said, “Given the League of American Wheelmen Black-exclusion that had taken place officially in 1894, the Detroit club is definitely making a pointed statement.”
We have been trying to gain more information on this photo. Unfortunately the Historical Museum does not have the key identifying the club members.
However, it appears the Black bicyclist (#16) may be “Trainer Edwards” of the 1894 Rambler racing team, but that’s all we know so far. We have not been able to find an Edwards listed in either the 1890 or 1900 Census, nor is he in the 1895 Polk Directory.
#33 might be the 1894 team manager, George H. Formhals. Formhals is listed in the 1895 Polk Directory as the general manager for the Gormully & Jeffrey Manufacturing Company which made Rambler bikes in Chicago. They had a store at 1275 Woodward (formerly 201 Woodward), but the building is no longer there.
Rambler bikes were very popular in Detroit. Their 1895 advertisement claimed that one-eighth of all bikes in Detroit were Ramblers, but we haven’t verified that claim.
In 1896, Gormully & Jeffrey gave away gold souvenirs to those who rode 3,000 miles on a Rambler bike. Each week, riders would have to show their cyclometer to their local Rambler agent. The total miles ridden were tallied across the country.
Detroit won in a landslide and got the “$400 in gold” prize. The highest individual mileage was over 15,000 miles though we don’t know if that was a Detroiter.
The Detroit Historical Society does have a second Rambler group photo from 1896 with some riders in both images.
There are also records of a Rambler bike club in 1887, which would have been riding high wheelers. Louis “Birdie” Munger was a First Lietenant. Munger started his own bicycle company in Chicago, which led him to befriend, coach and support Major Taylor. It’s unclear if Munger’s involvement with that earlier club somehow influenced these later incarnations.
There is a connection between the Rambler bikes and Rambler cars.
In 1900, Gormully & Jeffrey was sold to the American Bicycle Company. Thomas B. Jeffrey started a new company to make Rambler automobiles. In 1916, this new company was sold and became the Nash Motors Company, which in 1954, became part of the American Motors Corporation. Ramblers were built in the U.S. through 1969, and in Mexico through 1983.
By now you’ve likely heard the RiverWalk segment between Mt. Elliott Park and Gabriel Richard Park called the Uniroyal site, but why? Since 1906, a large portion of this property has been used for tire manufacturing, the last company bearing the name Uniroyal.
However, there’s an interesting bicycle history connection with this site.
The first company to manufacture tires at this location was Morgan & Wright. They were the largest bicycle tire manufacturer in the world during the 1890’s and located in Chicago. Shortly after the turn of the century, with the end of the Golden Era of Bicycles and the rise of automotive manufacturing, they moved their operations to Detroit. They continued making bicycle tires but primarily manufactured tires for cars and trucks.
This is another example of how the bicycling industry was the parent of the automotive industry. Bicyclists brought many innovations to transportation, including the first use of pneumatic tires, which the auto industry benefitted from.
Last note: As far as we know, Morgan & Wright have no relationship with the Wright Brothers.
The “irrepressible” Ben Fletcher was the first to ride a bicycle in Detroit 150 years ago on December 18th, 1868. He rode a French-built velocipede that weighed around 100 pounds along Jefferson Avenue near Woodward. The Detroit Free Press colorfully reported the milestone and predicted that before long, bicycles will be “as plenty as carriages in the streets” – and they were correct.
However, this new mode of transportation caused a public outcry. Through this point in history, there had been no major cause to build good roads. Pedestrians had sidewalks, the streetcars had rails, and automobiles had not yet been invented. Horses could slog through the mud and dust.
Detroit Horse Power mission is to “teach urban youth to ride and care for horses as a way to develop critical skills that will set them up for future success.” To help them better meet that mission they are trying to get an urban equestrian center built in the city of Detroit for year-round youth programming.
Through some initial planning work, a viable location has been identified along the Joe Louis Greenway near Salsinger Playfield (Fenkell at Linwood). If that does get built, it would make sense to try getting a rustic natural surface bridle path parallel to the main asphalt bike/walk greenway path. The Kal-Haven Trail in Western Michigan has such a feature.
Recently there have been prominent editorials and comments about the loss of “our culture” because of changes in road safety and accessibility. In a recent Op-Ed, Keith Crain of Crain’s Detroit Business said that bicyclists “must have a powerful lobby.” We agree.
The Detroit Greenways Coalition and its coalition member organizations and the city have been honing their skills for well over fifteen years. Our organization has garnered significant support from the public to support the State of Michigan efforts to build Complete Streets that balance the needs for everyone who uses and pays for our public roads. It is important to note that these efforts do not diminish vehicle access but improve them for everyone’s use, to save lives and spur neighborhood growth and economic development. Our organization does not derive our support and lobby power from big bucks, we get it from the thousands of grassroots voices that say we can make our public roadways work better for everyone.
To the assertion that we should say “good-bye to the Motor City”, that’s just not true. Even Ford Motor Company accepts the fact that transportation is changing and every type of choice made by a Detroit resident is important. To further dispel what made Detroit transportation hub is that in 1868 the first person rode a bicycle in Detroit on East Jefferson – nearly 28 years before the first motorized vehicle.
Now 150 years later, the city of Detroit is making East Jefferson safer for everyone, bicyclists, pedestrians as well as motorists. The goal is to make it a neighborhood road where driving the speed limit feels right, where pedestrians can safely cross the road and where bicycling is a viable option for residents to shop, visit neighbors, shop and eat Downtown, picnic on Belle Isle, enjoy the RiverWalk and live the urban lifestyle of everyone strives for. Jefferson can no longer be a “speedway” designed only to accommodate and encourage high-speed automobile traffic. Studies show that changes like this are important and impactful to revitalizing commercial corridors – something East Jefferson can certainly benefit from.
Over the past decades, the approach to East Jefferson and the neighborhoods along its route has not changed. And admittedly any change can be difficult to adjust to. Unfortunately it is even harder for those that think their time “behind the wheel” and their hurry to get to their next destination is more important that quality of life, safety or the economics of the neighborhood corridors through which they speed by.
The following are common refrains and misconceptions, along with the clarifications needed to educate those unwilling to recognize the importance of these changes or even to have the patience to accept the improvements that come over time.
Detroit started its citywide bicycle planning in 2005 with a non-motorized transportation master plan. There have been hundreds of public meetings since then for bike lane projects. Public feedback at these meetings has helped shape what the city is installing. East Jefferson in particular has seen significant non-motorized planning and meetings, including the “2012 Visions of Greenways” plan, the Detroit East Riverfront Framework Plan, and countless neighborhood and business meetings along the corridor.
This has not been true for over 150 years. While no city has exact numbers on bicyclists, we do know that there are at least 68 bike clubs in Detroit, each with many members who regularly ride throughout the city. Slow Roll is the largest weekly bike ride in the United States with many rides topping well over a thousand participants. On an average day over 1,200 people use the Dequindre Cut, both pedestrian and bicyclists. The very popular MoGo bike share program hit its annual 100,000 trip goal in under 5 months and has shown non-motorized transportation is needed by both residents and visitors. Few cities in the country can make similar boasts.
There is an unfortunately universal misconception that State and Federal taxes on motorist fuel and vehicle registrations fees cover Michigan’s road costs. They don’t. In 2014, those collected fees only covered 62.1% of the state road costs. The balance comes from the general fund and property taxes, which every Michigander pays, those with or without motor vehicles. The cost of bicycle and pedestrian facilities are just a fraction of the transportation costs in this state. If anything, bicyclists and pedestrians subsidize motorists.
Nationwide studies show this is not true. It is simply that motorists notice others breaking the law more than they notice themselves. There is more severe and permanent danger to pedestrians and bicyclists from motor vehicles than the other way around.
It is worth remembering that the rules of the road were birthed by the auto industry to gain a competitive mobility advantage over other modes of transportation, be it bike, horse, cart or tram. The speed limit on East Jefferson used to be 12 MPH and everyone using it had to yield at every intersection. The industry pushed for higher speeds, stop signs, traffic lights, one way streets and later freeways so the convenience of motor cars over other modes would help sales. They coined the term “jaywalking” and restricted the pedestrian rights to the roadways. Cities nationwide are re-evaluating these archaic rules to bring more balance to the public rights-of-way. Having rules that make sense for pedestrians, bicyclists and motor vehicles will lead to greater safety in our neighborhoods.
Even on East Jefferson.