W. McNichols to get bike lanes this year
Mayor Mike Duggan led a community meeting to discuss four streetscape options for W. McNichols just west of Livernois. One option included bike lanes. Despite concerns from business owners about losing some onstreet parking, the community voted 39 to 12 for the bike lanes.
We wrote more about this in our article, The Community decides on Complete Streets.
We’ve heard it asked at other public meeting, “Why is the city building bike lanes?” and “Who is asking for them?”. In this case it Detroiters from the area. Construction is expected to be completed this year.
2020 Snapshot
We created our first infographic that highlights Detroit’s progress towards a more bikeable and walkable city — as well as our role in making that happen.
What do you think? Is there additional data we should try to capture and benchmark?
We do have plans to collect more relevant data and make it available via our website. Look for some exciting announcements this spring.
SEMCOG seeks public comment
Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG) has released a draft Bicycle and Pedestrian Mobility Plan for Southeast Michigan. According to SEMCOG, the plan “ensures that the region’s nonmotorized system meets the transportation, quality of life, health, and accessibility needs of its residents and visitors, as well as the economic development priorities and goals of the region and local communities.”
The public is invited to review the draft plan and submit comments. Comments can be made by email to InfoCenter@semcog.org or by calling 313-324-3330.
We did serve on this plan’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Task Force, which was co-chaired by Detroit Council Member Scott Benson.
Preserving public right-of-ways near the LCA
Olympia Development petitioned the city to vacate the public easements for two east-west roads (Sproat and Henry) on both sides of the Little Ceasar’s Arena. We were concerned about losing public access for bicyclists, pedestrians, and transit users.
We brought this to Council member Benson who worked with the engineering department to modify the requests so that the right-of-ways are preserved for those on bikes or foot.
We monitor city council agendas and review all petitions that remove public right-of-way access. We find that often the petitioner is only interested in removing motor vehicle access.
We had a similar case where a petitioner sought to remove a public road next to the Conner Playfield/Conner Creek Greenway on the eastside. The road’s onstreet parking provided the only vehicle parking for the playfield, so we again worked with Council member Benson to keep the road and the playfield’s parking.
MoGo is Hiring
MoGo is expanding the public bike share system to Northwest Detroit and Southern Oakland county. They’re adding another 31 stations and 140 bikes in six cities. They’re also hiring. Visit their website for more information.