The Detroit Greenways Coalition works to promote and build a network of greenways, Complete Streets, and bike lanes that will connect people and places, improve the quality of life, beautify neighborhoods, and stimulate neighborhood-level economic development in Detroit.

The City of Detroit gave a recent greenway construction update in Hour Detroit. "By fall, three pieces of the Joe Louis Greenway are expected to be accessible to the public: a half-mile segment between Tireman Avenue and Joy Road, in Detroit that includes landscaping and stormwater management, which is half the planned segment between Joy and Warren roads that is expected to be done in 2023; a 1.6-mile segment of Joseph Campau Avenue between Carpenter Avenue and Hamtramck Drive in Hamtramck; and the Southwest Greenway, a below-grade 0.67-mile path stretching from Bagley Street to Jefferson Avenue to connect Corktown to the West Riverfront. Eventually, that segment will terminate in Wilson Centennial Park, which won’t open until 2024."

Also, Detour Detroit published, The Joe Louis Greenway could transform Detroit. What about the neighborhoods around it?: "Midwest residents hope the Greenway will catalyze positive changes beyond the path’s boundaries, and have seized the new attention to their neighborhood as an opportunity to make headway with the city on a litany of problems — like illegal dumping, code-violating industrial businesses, blight and disinvestment — they’ve been struggling with for years."

Framework planning for this Midwest-Tireman neighborhood recently kicked off as well.

We are excited about all the new people the City of Detroit has hired:

• Dara O'Byrne is the new Chief Parks Planner. Dara has actually been in this position for a little while, replacing Meagan Elliott, who is now the Deputy CFO. Dara returned to Detroit after a stint in Oakland, California.
• James Hannig is the new Deputy Director of Complete Streets in DPW. He comes to Detroit via Milwaukee and is replacing Cailtin Malloy-Marcon. The photo is of James and his bike in a mini-traffic circle. 
• Irvin Wyche is now a planner on the Complete Streets team, replacing the recently departing Erika Linenfelser.
• Tim Slusser is now the Chief of Mobility Innovation within the Mayor's office. Tim was a director at NextEnergy and takes the position formerly held by Mark de la Vergne.

You likely read about this infrastructure bill passing last year. It will have a major positive effect on all that we do. It's not just an increase in funding. There are new programs that align well with projects such as I-375 and the Joe Louis Greenway. There are also policy changes that will prioritize existing safety funding toward biking and walking improvements. We have been staying on top of this and sharing information so that the city can take full advantage of these opportunities.

But it's not all good news. The bill did not include no e-bike purchase incentives. Those were in the Build Back Better bill, which has not passed.  Build Back Better also includes Community Climate Incentive and Neighborhood Access and Equity Grants. The latest word is the bill will be split up into smaller bills. 

The cities of Ferndale and Pleasant Ridge have been working with MDOT to build two-way cycletracks along both sides of Woodward just north of the Detroit border at Eight Mile. This project should begin construction this year and be completed by next year. Of course we'd like to see this extended south to McNichols as part of our Zoo-to-River vision.

We are program partners for the Bikes 4 Essential Workers program, and last year 20 bicycles were provided to essential workers who needed them to get to work. Those workers were surveyed afterwards and the results were overwhelmingly positive: 44% of all work commutes were by bike and 100% believe their health improved because of biking. All of the survey results are more are on our website.

Keenan Gibbons from SmithGroup recently shared these before and after photos of the new greenway segment between Larned and E. Jefferson. This used to be a surface parking lot that blocked access to the river. It's now a plaza with "permeable pavers with extensive storage subbase and is tree-lined and illuminated."

The addition of The Red Hook coffee shop makes it even better.

MDOT has started a I-94 mobility study. It includes an online survey to learn how Detroit residents "travel on or across I-94, Gratiot Avenue, East Warren Avenue, East Jefferson Avenue, Mack Avenue, and/or Harper Avenue...to figure out the best mobility strategies for easing travel when the department rebuilds I-94 starting in late 2023/early 2024."

They are also seeking artists to create public art for the Cass Avenue bridge. The application deadline is February 28th. The bridge will be construction this year and next.

Lastly, the Second Avenue bridge should be moved into place this year.

There's a new sculpture on Belle Isle at the Iron Belle Trailhead near the lighthouse. Meanwhile the DNR is continuing to work on the new trail that will eventually encircle the island. Phase 3 was recently awarded a $500K grant.

The DNR says the new berm at Milliken State Park will open this May. "As part of the improvement project and to help deter future erosion, the berm was reshaped and alternative access routes to the top of the berm were integrated, including several sections of stairs and an asphalt pathway..."

A year round bike commuter alerted us to the exposed bolts on the Spruce pedestrian bridge over the Lodge in North Corktown. We reached out to MDOT and they replaced the board and bolts with new concrete patching.

SEMCOG is hosting a free webinar on the Great Lakes Way on February 15th at 11am. This is an opportunityto learn more about this vision for over 300 miles of greenways and water trails along Southeast Michigan’s Great Lakes coastline.

Congratulations to Free Bikes 4 Kids and everyone who helped in getting so many bikes to Detroit kids. This is a major investment in youth health and happiness, as well as a bigger and better Bike Life future.

The 10th annual Bike the Blizzard ride is a fundraiser for Back Alley Bikes. Rides are planned for both February 12th and 13th. We'll be co-leading the kickoff ride at 9am on Saturday with Council member Scott Benson.