Our December newsletter is now online with updates on greenways, Complete Streets, safety funding, and much more.
Tag: Safe Streets for All
This was a seriously good year for making biking, walking, and rolling better in the City of Detroit. Here are some of the highlights.
Greenway Openings
- Southwest Greenway – This 0.6-mile rail-trail sibling of the Dequindre Cut opened in May and provides a very convenient connection between Corktown and the RiverWalk. This also includes the 15th Street pedestrian/bicycle connection to renovated Michigan Central and Roosevelt Park.
- RiverWalk Uniroyal Site – The long anticipated segment between the Mt. Elliott and Gabriel Richard Parks opened in October. Thousands of people came out for the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy‘s celebration. This closed the biggest gap on the East RiverWalk.
- Joe Louis Greenway – The City of Detroit officially opened the Warren Gateway trailhead on Halloween. Calling it a trailhead doesn’t do it justice. It’s a great community gathering and play space. It’ll be a major destination along the JLG. The Meade Cut-Thru north of Hamtramck opened this year as well and provides another neighborhood connection to the greenway.
Complete Streets
- East Warren saw some of its separated bike lanes upgraded with concrete curbs, landscaping, and much more from 3 Mile Drive to Cadieux. We’re advocating for extending the East Warren separated bike lanes west of St. Jean to the (future) Joe Louis Greenway, WSU, Woodbridge and more — especially since we expect this to be part of the Iron Belle Trail route.
- Rosa Parks streetscape is a newly opened cycletrack from West Grand Boulevard (near the Motown Museum) to Gordon Park (near the Congregration). This project also removed a couple unnecessary vehicle lanes, which reduces stormwater runoff and nearly doubles the size of the adjacent MLK Jr. Memorial Park.
Road Safety
- Safe Streets for All funding – In February, the City of Detroit received $24.8 million in federal funding to improve its most unsafe streets. The city reapplied for additional funding from the same program and received another $24.8 million grant to address 56 high-crash intersections served by DDOT. This latter grant will also “conduct a Level of Traffic Stress analysis to address gaps in bicyclist/pedestrian networks, update the City’s Comprehensive Safety Action Plan, and pilot training for DDOT bus operators to ensure safe operations around people walking and biking.” This funding will lead to some community meetings and major street improvements in 2024.
- Under state law, nearly all residential streets in Detroit have a default 25 MPH speed limit. No speed limit signs are required. During an earlier state legislative session, changes were made to this section of state law that would remove this default on January 1st, 2024. We supported a bill to keep the current residential speed limits, and when it got held up in the House, we worked to get it unstuck. It passed the Senate and was signed by the Governor.
(Dis)connecting Communities
- Pedestrian Bridges – Freeways divide Detroit neighborhoods, so when they were first constructed, pedestrian bridges were added to help reduce this disconnection. Through the years, MDOT has not maintained these bridges and many of them are now closed. We’re involved at the local, state, and federal levels to address the lack of maintenance, non-compliant ADA designs, and their outright closures, most recently with the Canfield Bridge. We are expect to have more updates in 2024 as we stay on top of this.
- I-375 Reconnecting Communities – We are pleasantly surprised that there’s been more vocal opposition to the overbuilt replacement boulevard than the freeway removal itself this year. This continued pressure along with new post-COVID traffic counts could lead to a tighter boulevard design that’s better for bicyclists and pedestrians. It’s much less expensive to do a road diet before you build it. Stay tuned for updates and more public meetings in 2024.
| Miles of Bike Infrastructure (Centerline) | New for 2023 | Total |
|---|---|---|
| Trails | 1.3 | 24.8 |
| Bike Routes (sharrows) | 0 | 42.4 |
| Bike Lanes (includes 0.25 miles removed on 14th Street in Corktown) | 2.5 | 93.2 |
Back in February, the City of Detroit received a $24.8 million road safety grant from the US DOT’s Safe Streets for All program (SS4A).
Apparently lightning does strike twice.
The US DOT just awarded the City another $24.8 million SS4A grant. While the first focused on infrastructure improvements to streets with the highest crash rates, this grants focuses more on high-crash intersection near transit stops.
The City of Detroit, Michigan, is awarded funds to improve safety and bus stop accessibility at 56 high-crash intersections served by the Detroit Department of Transportation (DDOT) bus service. Improvements will support safer transfers between different routes and active/shared modes and include bus bulbs/transit islands; sidewalk widening and ADA curb ramp updates; highvisibility crosswalks; intersection lighting; and signal timing improvements. The City will also conduct a Level of Traffic Stress analysis to address gaps in bicyclist/pedestrian networks, update the City’s Comprehensive Safety Action Plan, and pilot training for DDOT bus operators to ensure safe operations around people walking and biking. The City of Detroit has one of the highest traffic fatality rates in the country.
Safe Streets and Roads for All Fiscal Year 2023 Implementation Grant Awards, USDOT
We wrote a letter of support for this project because we believe it “will substantially reduce the risk of countless vulnerable roadway users being killed or injured at intersections in Detroit and it will help realize the region’s vision for improved transit.”
City of Dearborn
A major streetscape of Warren Avenue in Dearborn (near the Joe Louis Greenway) was also awarded $24.9 million.
The City of Dearborn, Michigan, is awarded funds for a road diet that focuses on a dual lane reduction on Warren Avenue. This 2-mile stretch of road currently hosts five lanes of traveling traffic and is a thoroughfare used to get to Detroit, Canada, and the Detroit Metro Airport. This project includes three primary objectives. First, the narrowing of Warren Avenue to calm traffic through the district. Second, infrastructural updates to the streetscape to incorporate a new demarcated bike lane and plant buffer to mitigate flood waters as well as beautify the grey urban area. Finally, this project will reimagine the streetscape with new LED lighting, which will lower the carbon footprint in the area, improve safety, and enhance visibility for pedestrians and motorists alike.
Safe Streets and Roads for All Fiscal Year 2023 Implementation Grant Awards, USDOT
SEMCOG
SEMCOG received $10 million for their “Safe Streets Now: Making Southeast Michigan roads safer for people of all ages and abilities” project.
This award will be used by the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG) to complete demonstration activities focused on vulnerable road users. Demonstration activities will be located in equity emphasis areas, the High Injury Network, and/or Bicycle and Pedestrian Demand Areas. Examples of demonstration countermeasures that will be installed include bike lanes, cycle tracks, bulb outs, speed humps, pedestrian refuge islands, gateway treatments, and enhanced crosswalk pavement markings using temporary materials such as paint, bollards, planter boxes, and rubber curbs to separate users in space and time, and reduce impact forces through reducing speeds.
US DOT Notice of Award
Our letter of support stated that is “is a great opportunity to reduce traffic violence through a Safe Systems Approach – and we fully support that.”
SEMCOG confirmed to us that the City of Detroit would be eligible for this funding as well.
Action Planning
Other SS4A grants were awarded to nearby cities for developing new action plans, including Dearborn Heights “Safe Streets 4 Dearborn Heights” which received $396,700.
Other Metro Detroit cities also receiving this funding include Canton, Garden City, Inkster, Mount Clemens, Novi, Pontiac, Wayne and Westland.
Wayne County received $1 million to develop a “Comprehensive Safety Action Plan” as well.
Note: While these funding announcements are certainly positive, Metro Detroit received these competitive grants due to our region’s unsafe roads. If we had safer roads and had reached Vision Zero, we wouldn’t be receiving this much help from the US DOT.
Read all the latest updates in our online newsletter.
UPDATED 3/7/2023: Our original map showed the streets the city wanted to improve. Since the grant award was less than what was requested, US DOT asked that four corridors (Kelly, Whittier, Springwells, & W Vernor) be removed.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law created the Safe Streets for All federal program with $5 billion in grants over the next 5 years. The competitive grants support the U.S. DOT’s National Roadway Safety Strategy and the goal of zero deaths and serious injuries on our roadways.
Today the U.S. Department of Transportation announced their first year of grants and Detroit was among those selected. The city will receive $24.8 million that will focus on improving roads in the high-injury network. The city is required to provide an additional 20% match.
This award will help Detroit improve road safety in high-injury areas with components like new bike lanes and pedestrian refuge islands. It will also support safety measures throughout the city, including curb extensions, high-visibility crosswalks, pedestrian countdown timers, and additional improvements focused on improving pedestrian safety and promoting safe speeds.
U.S. DOT Safe Streets for All grant announcement
This grant award is a major win for the city and the Department of Public Works Complete Streets team. It’s also compliments the Vision Zero resolution that was passed by Detroit City Council last year.
Of course it’s not enough funding to solve all of the city’s road safety issues, but it will be enough to make signficant improvements to the most dangerous roads as outlined in the Detroit Comprehensive Safety Action Plan.
While Detroit was the only Michigan implementation grant, other communities received funding to develop safety action plans, including Ann Arbor, Ferndale, Highland Park, Macomb County, Road Commission for Oakland County, and SEMCOG.