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.
Happy Earth Day!
The pandemic has halted many things, but not the construction of new trails, especially those that are part of the Joe Louis Greenway.
Phase 1 construction hasn’t officially broken ground, but the City of Detroit has been busy clearing the land in preparation for it. The City has also been transferring land parcels from the Detroit Land Bank Authority to the project to help create neighborhood connections and more.
The Detroit Riverfront Conservancy is continuing to make progress on the Southwest Greenway (formerly called the May Creek Greenway.) According to their Spring 2021 newsletter, “With the final easements in place and the design stage nearing completion, the Conservancy will break ground this summer.”
The Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority has selected a design for the greenspace between the U.S. Port of Entry plaza and West Jefferson near Historic Fort Wayne. This segment will include a shared-use path. They also have this video that describes the project’s design in more detail.
Much discussion has been happening at the city and federal level about additional funding for these projects. There’s talk of a federal infrastructure bill, a renewal of the federal transportation bill, and more. Detroit Is It published this article about the Connecting America’s Active Transportation System Act that we’ve been supporting. We’re optimistic these discussions will eventually result in dollars.
There’s also been a number of news article about these projects:
Another project we’re involved in is the Great Lakes Way. This new greenway and blueway project was recently announced in Great Lakes Now.
If the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan has its way, southeast Michigan will soon have a regional trail of national significance called the Great Lakes Way…
The Community Foundation together with regional partners developed a vision map for the Great Lakes Way – an interconnected set of 156 miles of blueways or water trails and 160 miles of greenways stretching from southern Lake Huron through western Lake Erie. The vision is that all residents and visitors of southeast Michigan are connected to and benefit from world-class freshwater, wildlife, recreation, and heritage right in our backyard through the Great Lakes Way.
An emphasis will be placed on ensuring that all residents and visitors – people of all ages, backgrounds, ethnicities and interests – feel welcomed and share in its benefits. This Great Lakes Way will improve close-to-home outdoor recreation, enhance regional competitive advantage, help attract and retain employees for businesses, and celebrate, protect and capitalize on our region’s defining natural resources.
SEMCOG has also created an interactive project map with additional details.
From our perspective, this is another tool for encouraging communities to build Complete Streets that don’t have a history of doing so. We also asked that the Great Lakes Way infrastructure works for people of all ages and abilities. We don’t want to see a community install some sharrows and think the job is done.
There has been a large number of moves and retirements announced recently of people involved in greenways. We want to recognize them and offer our appreciation for their continued commitment to making Detroit a better, greener place to walk, roll, bike, and paddle.
Support the Detroit Greenways Coalition by making a donation today
Registration is still open for our 24-mile Joe Louis Greenway bike ride on Sunday, June 23rd. The ride is being sponsored by the SmithGroup and will start near the Clark Park ice rink (1251 Scotten St.) at 8:30am.
This second annual Joe Louis Greenway bike ride will be limited to 100 donating participants. The objective of the ride is to create more awareness of the Joe Louis Greenway and raise money for the Detroit Greenways Coalition.
This year, participants will receive a commemorative pint glass. They just arrived and look great!
The Joe Louis Greenway Visioning meetings are underway! All four meetings have the same content and activities so no need to attend them all.
Translation services will be available at Lasky Recreation Center and Patton Creek Community Center. Refreshments will be provided.
More information can be found on the city’s website: www.joelouisgreenway.com
Email Christina Peltier if you have any questions or would like her to present to your neighborhood organization.
With the development of the new bridge comes a $10 million community benefit package to both Detroit and Windsor. Last week the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority announced how they plan on making those investments.
To quote a Detroit Free Press reporter we spoke with at the announcement, “Lot’s of bike stuff in there.” Included in the package is funding for parks (including the Fort-Rouge Gateway park we’ve been involved with), trails, trail heads, wayfinding, bike racks, a cross-river bike/walk tour, and much more. We’re were fortunate to have been consulted on these ideas and look forward to them being implemented.
Of course there are also many streetscape improvements to make it easier to walk and bike to the bridge. The bridge does have a non-motorized pathway, too. The city’s latest proposal for the Joe Louis Greenway has it running between Fort Wayne and the US bridge plaza, which we think it really smart.
More information on the community benefits
We recently attended an “Honor Roll” for Ms. Sheila Jett, a 61-year old Detroit grandmother killed while biking in a hit-and-run on Detroit’s westside. Hundreds of bicyclists showed up, many arriving on the same route Ms. Jett had taken that evening. Special thanks to LDR, the Hub ride, and Westside Wednesday for helping make this happen.
Her daughter rode with us and Jett’s sister was simply overwhelmed by the crowd’s show of support. They were so thankful.
We mentioned to Ms. Jett’s daughter that Detroit’s bike community is family. We lost one of our own and it’s the Detroit Greenways Coalition mission to make a safer bicycling city so that other families don’t have to experience what hers did.
If you have any information on the hit-and-run, please contact the Detroit Police Department.
First, we want to thank all those that contributed to our successful Fall Fundraising campaign. This funding is critical to our organization’s effort to help create greenways like the Joe Louis. (Can we start calling it “The Joe” yet?)
Exciting News! Two community insight meetings are planned for this Saturday, January 19th from 11am to 1pm and again from 2pm to 4pm. This is an great opportunity for residents to get more involved in the greenway planning process for this 31.5 mile biking and walking trail that touches Detroit, Ferndale, Dearborn, Hamtramck, and Highland Park.
According to the City of Detroit web site:
At the meeting, residents will also have a chance to meet the two finalists on the short list of consultants that will be chosen to complete the planning, view the Greenway’s total footprint, discuss phases of construction, and share insights and opinions. The finalists, Spackman Mossop and Michaels, LLC and SmithGroup, Inc., will be in attendance to present their plans for the Greenway and answer questions from residents.”
We’ve also updated our Joe Louis Greenway page with up to date information.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is holding a second public meeting about the Milliken State Park & Harbor Master Plan Update. That meeting is January 16, 2019 from 6:00pm – 8:00pm at Orleans Landing (1568 Franklin Street).
We regularly scan the Detroit City Council agendas. Now and then this tedious work pays off — and it just did. An eastside company had asked the City of Detroit to close Athens Avenue, the street that runs along the west side of the Conner Playfield, north of Harper Avenue. The onstreet parking on Athens is the only vehicle parking for the Playfield, which is home to the Titan football teams as well as a portion of the Conner Creek Greenway and Iron Belle Trail. We alerted Council member Scott Benson, who quickly contacted all parties and brokered an agreement to not close Athens. This is great news for those who use the park.
As part of the Gordie Howe International Bridge project’s Community Benefit Plan, $10 million will be invested on each side of the border. Before they finalize the Community Benefits Plan, they are seeking community feedback on the final selection of initiatives through this survey.
The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) also has a survey for their State Long Range Transportation Plan. PLEASE TAKE THIS WHEN YOU CAN. We need to continue pushing MDOT to a more realistic, human-focused transportation system.
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This 26-mile trail around the city continues to move forward. After many years of discussion and negotiation, the city of Detroit has 
