Long promised, finally here. Detroit has a bike and trail map again.
After many stops and starts, we finally got the funding we needed to complete the map and print 12,500 copies. Half of those have already been distributed at all the Detroit bike shops, runDetroit, the Lexus Velodrome, and Council member Scott Benson’s office at the Matrix Center. The Detroit Planning Department and Health Department also have copies they’ll be distributing at events across the city as will we.
The map shows all the current trails and bike infrastructure in Detroit as well as the Iron Belle Trail. It also include all the repair stations, bike shops, and kayak launches.
A substantial amount of effort went into including all the relevant laws pertaining to bicycling and pedestrians. Frankly, we’re not fans of the existing materials that fail to highlight laws motorists must follow around bicycles and pedestrians. We focus on those since they are the main determinant for improved safety. We also discuss the history of these laws, which were developed by the auto industry in the 1920s with no input from bicyclists.
The PDF of the map is available but it is a bit unwieldy. We’re going to work to get portions of it online in a more readable format.
Thanks to the DALMAC, the Office of Highway Safety Planning, and Michigan Department of Natural Resources for making this project possible.
2 replies on “Hot off the presses: a Detroit Bike & Walk map”
This is great! Nice work! Have you considered adding these routes to Google Maps or Alltrails or Strava? Many people now use their smart phones to help find their way and keep track of their riding miles.
We did add the trails and bike lanes to Google Maps when their MapMaker utility was available. We still make some updates but we don’t have the control we once had. It can take up to a year or so before our requested changes are reflected on Google Maps.