Great Lakes - Detroit City Council Approves Non-Motorized Plan

Last Tuesday, Detroit City Council passed a Non-Motorized Transportation Plan (http://www.michigantrails.org/news/detroit-endorses-non-motorized-master-plan/), which among other things, calls for nearly 400 miles of bike lanes.

Council also voiced their support for the Corktown-Mexicantown Greenlink network, which is about 13 miles of bike lanes. We've applied for transportation enhancement funding, which could be available as soon as next year. We have the match money and are ready to go.

I also posted a similar article that explains a little more about the value of a non-motorized plan (http://www.m-bike.org/blog/2008/09/21/detroit-city-council-approves-non-motorized-plan).

And, I've posted some additional bike-related information on Detroit's new mayor (http://www.m-bike.org/blog/2008/09/21/detroit-welcomes-mayor-and-cyclist-ken-cockrel-jr) -- a cyclist.

Todd Scott
Detroit Greenways Coordinator
Michigan Trails and Greenway Alliance

Fantastic news!

Here's a recent press release:




FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Lauren Garfield
Michael Kern
248-855-6777



CITY COUNCIL APPROVES TWO RESOLUTIONS TO MAKE DETROIT A MODEL FOR PEDESTRIAN TRANSPORTATION

DETROIT –– The Detroit City Council recently approved two resolutions of the Non-Motorized Transportation Master Plan. Funded by the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) and developed, in part, by civil engineering and surveying firm Giffels-Webster, the plan calls for various improvements for walking and biking safety in Detroit, including nearly 400 miles of bike lanes on city streets.

The plan was initially presented to then-Council President Ken Cockrel Jr.’s Green Task Force. With a solid showing of support, it was then presented to the city council’s Public Health and Safety Committee. Resolutions were created, with the first endorsing the plan and the second urging the mayor to implement it.

When completed, the plan will connect many of Detroit’s trails including the Dequindre Cut and the Conner Creek Greenway, both greenways supported by the GreenWays Initiative, a program of the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan. It also will link the Corktown/Mexicantown Greenlink and the Southwest Detroit Bike Path. Implementation of the non-motorized plan will significantly increase the opportunity for walking and biking in the city, adding transportation options for everyone.

“The execution of this plan will help make Detroit a leader in walking and bicycling safety accommodations,” said Tom Woiwode, director of the GreenWays Initiative. “They will help to lower traffic, create healthy and enjoyable experiences, and connect communities, a high priority for the GreenWays Initiative.”

The project is expected to cost $20 million and will take approximately 10 years to compete. Other cities that have implemented non-motorized plans include Chicago, Boston, Denver and Portland.

“This is a significant milestone,” added Todd Scott, Detroit Greenways Coordinator for the Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance. “It represents the mayor’s and the city’s growing commitment to making the city greener and healthier and to improved biking and walking, which complements and enhances the existing greenway developments across Detroit.”




The Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan is a permanent community endowment built by gifts from thousands of individuals and organizations committed to the future of southeast Michigan. The Foundation works to improve the region’s quality of life by connecting those who care with causes that matter. The Foundation supports a wide variety of activities benefiting education, arts and culture, health, human services, community development and civic affairs. The Foundation has assets of more than $635 million and, since its inception, has distributed more than $317 million through more than 30,000 grants to nonprofit organizations throughout Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Monroe, Washtenaw, St. Clair and Livingston counties. For more information, please visit www.cfsem.org.


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Good news, fish! Keep us posted on the progress and other news items like this.

Next Tuesday, October 21st, the Model D Speaker Series welcomes John Hertel and Scott Clein to the Motor City Movie House at the Russell Industrial Center (http://www.ricdetroit.org/). The event begins at 5 PM with the presentations starting at 5:30 PM.

From Model D (http://www.modeldmedia.com/features/speaker16308.aspx):


Hertel is the local transit czar, and will speak on the the Regional Transportation Coordinating Council’s recently released transit plan for Southeastern Michigan, including a light rail or streetcar system down Woodward Avenue.

Clein is an engineer with Giffels-Webster, the firm which recently helped design a non-motorized plan that calls for more than 400 miles of bike lanes in Detroit. The plan recently got approval from Detroit City Council. Read more about it here (http://www.modeldmedia.com/developmentnews/nonmotorized16208.aspx).

To sign up for this free event or to get directions, visit Model D (http://www.modeldmedia.com/speakerseries/speaker102108.aspx).

Model D Media has created a cool video that discusses Detroit's non-motorized transportation master plan:
http://www.modeldmedia.com/features/mdtv16608.aspx

As a former Detroiter (1950s) and now living in Tucson, AZ, it took the Tucson area 30 years to get up to the 400+ mile mark on bike lanes.
Plans are nice; it is the implementation of those plans and scare $$ that will take more than 10 years projected.

A good first step; congrats!

Zonatandem,

I share your skepticism of celebrating plans then watching them not get implemented. However, Detroit's pretty unique in this situation. We've had 1.1 million residents leave Detroit since the 50s. We've also completed an urban expressway system since then. The result is we have a significantly overbuilt road system. With this plan, nearly all of the bike lanes can be created through road diets. Since paving is not required, the cost is quite low and can be implemented during normal road maintenance. The total cost for the 400 miles is $15 million. We might just get this done in 10 years. It's really going to be up to Detroit bicycling advocates to make sure we don't lose this momentum. We'll see!