By our reckoning, the last national bicycle conference in Detroit was in 1891 with the League of American Wheelmen. We weren’t overlooked; we just never applied for these conferences.
We co-chaired an impressive planning committee along with the City of Detroit and SEMCOG. This committee put together the opening panel, chose the keynote speaker, selected the program, and developed numerous walking and biking tours.
Highlights included:
An opening “Welcome to Detroit” panel moderated by Council member Scott Benson with Karen Slaugher-DuPerry from the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy, Leona Medley from the Joe Louis Greenway Partnership, District 2 manager Kim Tandy, and Bo Wilson from Grown Men on Bikes.
Detroit-raised Nina Idemudia from the Center for Neighborhood Technology of Chicago giving a keynote speech, including her DDOT bus experiences of trying to get to school.
The City of Windsor providing bus transportation, bikes, and lunches for a tour south of the border.
While APBP set a goal of 300 attendees from across North America, we were able to attract 350. This included designers, engineers, advocates and officials from various cities and states, as well as the Federal Highway Administration. There was notable participation from the City of Detroit and MDOT, too.
By all measures, this conference was a major success and we look forward to bringing more to Detroit.
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.
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.
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.
Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) is federal funding that Michigan receives, some of which is allocated to SEMCOG.
Michigan has nearly $90 million in unspent CMAQ and the federal government is projected to take back nearly $86 million of it in June 2020.
CMAQ is a major funding source for bicycle and trail projects in places like Chicago, but not in Metro Detroit.
MDOT and SEMCOG should change their CMAQ formulas to invest in more greener modes of travel such as biking, walking, and public transit.
Haven’t heard of CMAQ? It’s Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality funding in the federal transportation bills since 1991. Some of this funding is controlled by MDOT while a portion is allocated to SEMCOG.
The CMAQ program provides a flexible funding source to State and local governments for transportation projects and programs to help meet the requirements of the Clean Air Act. Funding is available to reduce congestion and improve air quality for areas that do not meet the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for ozone, carbon monoxide, or particulate matter (nonattainment areas) and for former nonattainment areas that are now in compliance (maintenance areas).
The State of Michigan currently has nearly $90 million in unspent CMAQ. Under current law, the federal government is projected to take back nearly $86 million of it in June of 2020.
There are calls for Congress to remove the rescission. That’s fine, but we think the bigger question is why does Michigan have such a large unobligated CMAQ funding balance.
A related issue is MDOT’s and SEMCOG’s antiquated CMAQ project ranking process. It favors traffic signal work since there’s no local match requirement. While these projects may reduce idle times, they don’t take into account how this encourages more driving and negates air quality improvements. They don’t take into account that idling electric, hybrid, and cars with start/stop technology aren’t affecting air quality.
In Chicago, CMAQ largely pays for their bicycle and pedestrian improvements that has shifted travel to greener modes. No CMAQ funding has gone for such improvements through SEMCOG. Zero. (MDOT did fund some Metro I-275 Trail improvements in the past.)
Our bottom line:
MDOT should not have such a large unobligated CMAQ balance especially since it’s subject to future rescission.
SEMCOG and MDOT should change their CMAQ funding priorities in Southeast Michigan to encourage greener modes of travel that improve air quality.
We certainly would support more CMAQ funding going towards public transit rather than the arbitrary 50% transit/road split that SEMCOG has adopted.
The Detroit Greenways Coalition is working with elected officials and government staff to address this issue. We want cleaner air and shifting travel to green modes is one guaranteed way to achieve that.
