Detroit: May Creek Greenway Update April 2022
 

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...612fcaf341.jpg
Looks like a nice complement to the Riverwalk!
Wonder if it'll be done before the GH bridge to Canada? 2030?

The Detroit Riverfront Conservancy in partnership with others like the Michigan Department of Natural Resources are currently planning this trail and expect to complete the construction in the fall of 2021.

Errr.....OK??


Last month, Michigans Governor approved $28 million in Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund (MNRTF) grants. This included $2.7 million for the May Creek Greenway.

Wayne County – DNR,May Creek Greenway - Iron Belle Trail-$2,700,000 Acquisition of a developed easement for the May Creek Greenway that will be a key pedestrian connector of the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Centennial Park, formerly West Riverfront Park, to the vibrant Corktown and Southwest Detroit neighborhoods on the upland side of West Jefferson Avenue via the Iron Belle Trail alignment. Situated along a former creek bed and now active Detroit-Windsor rail tunnel line, the project will be a non-motorized greenway. This greenway will connect residential areas to the existing Detroit Riverwalk with over 3.5 miles of recreational opportunity along the Detroit River. The May Creek Greenway will also serve as the primary non-motorized connection from the north to the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Centennial Park.

https://www.michigan.gov/documents/d...Q_673673_7.pdf

Some Background :
https://detroitgreenways.org/project...reek-greenway/

Huh. Well, there is already a nice bridge there going to Mexican town. I guess its good to connect the south end of the river walk to something.

Personally, I'm just glad they are finishing the last couple hundred yards to Belle Isle (north end of the rivewalk), finally!

I just looked at the Greenways map.. I had no idea the network was that extensive..
Nice!

If you look carefully, a portion of the map has pathways that are not built yet. Yeah... what we have now is a vast improvement compared to 40 years ago .

I wonder about the designers of some of the routes. They most likely are NOT bicyclists.

The maintenance of the on street bike lanes is generally non existent.

Some of the ones I ride have grass growing along the road on the street side of the curb .

There is so much dirt and debris in them. An incredible amount of the debris is broken glass!!

Don't know when the last time the lane on St. Aubin between Mack and the 94 was swept.
The ring road bike lane by the Gm poletown plant might as well be cobblestone. That probably would be smoother.

Well, when a city has 1/3 of the inhabitants it used to have, that leaves a lot of lanes basically unused, so its not too hard to repaint a lane for a bike. Keeping in clean is another matter. ;-) But Detroit has come a long, long way in the last 10-20 years as far as bike usage and bike infrastructure.

I was noticing that on our lanes here.. especially this year with the pandemic and everyone limited to one-to-a-truck.. grass growing in the pavement joints, glass, debris, etc., in the curbs..
one of my favorite local routes goes under a state highway along the river.. has had a homeless camp set up on it for the better part of the year..

Two of the Detroit Randonnuers routes take us down Jefferson Ave, with us using the bike path from Gross Point to Belle Isle. Both times, I was so sure I was going to get a flat because of all the glass on the bike path. I was surprised I didn't. This was only within the last few weeks.
On a separate ride with my recumbent, I did flat near the Belle Isle entrance.

These paths could be so nice if only the inhabitants of Detroit actually gave a darn about their own city. They seem not too, smashing glass bottles anywhere and everywhere. Shame that we in suburbs care more about Detroit that those who live there.

Is probably a little more complex than that.
In the 'burbs, I see street sweepers about once a month (among other things).
Detroit doesn't have that cash flow to go around cleaning the streets like that.

The worst flat I ever got was in Detroit. It literally took me months to fix it.

Got the flat in the rain - oh great.
put a new tube in and road off, only to go flat again in a couple of miles. Walking back carrying the bike kinda sucked in the D, although I was only a couple of miles away when I got the second flat.

The strange thing was, the tire kept going flat for months,
I would fix it. It was fine.
I would ride it, it would go flat.
I would fix it, and let it sit for a month, it was fine
I would ride it and it would go flat
I would check the tire and check the tube, everything was fine.
I would fix it, ride it for a mile and it was fine,
I would go on a commute and it would go flat.
repeat

Finally I match marked the tire and the tube
I found the hole in the tube
and really analyzed the tire in that area.
I found a thin wire, about the thickness of a hair, stuck in the tire. It was probably part of a radial tire belt, but it was small enough to not bother the tire when it was sitting, or even for a short ride. But eventually it would wear through the tube- even though I couldn't feel it or see it in the tire unless i knew exactly where to look.

Yup it's complex all right. One issue it that the moral of city employees is extra low. It's now become even more of a F__k off contest(who can do the least amount of work and still get paid) than it ever was. I sympathize with them. Their rosters are depleted.
To make up for the man power ,contractors are hired and their hourly rate is greater than those city employees.

As far as street sweeping , friends that still live in Detroit had mentioned theirs were cleaned on three occasions this year.
Bikes lanes that I ride to visit them were (apparently) ignored. Even though their street adjuncts with the road where the lanes are.
I know that a missing storm basin cover, on one of the bike sharrows was reported a few years back . Its still is without a cover .
It has the typical used tire sticking out of it.

Oh the complexity!!

They finally broke ground on this today(4-6-2022).2 1/2 years after it was announced. Six months after it was originally projected to be completed.
It's been renamed as well.....now it's the Southwest Greenway.Officials broke ground Wednesday on a nearly mile-long extension of the Detroit Riverfront to connect it to residential neighborhoods and Michigan Central.

The $8 million Southwest Greenway will connect the riverfront and planned Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Centennial Park with the rail station and neighborhoods throughout southwest Detroit, Mexicantown and Corktown,
Spanning from Bagley to Jefferson Avenue, the greenway will improve community access to public spaces in the city and is expected to be completed in the fall


New rendering

https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...644a3e18df.jpg



I'll believe it when I pedal it . Wonder if the casinos will let me lay a sure bet ....It won't be done anytime this year.

Cool that something is being put in place. I do have my reserved concerns for public safety, upkeep maintenance, & flooding...

It being a non-loop route might not draw the full attention of the public users. Wonder if there is a near future plan to also connect it up the ways past belle isle?

The Dequindre Cut is a non loop ...it gets a lot of attention.


Because this Greenway has a better neighborhood(and eatery) connection at its end, I'm thinking that it'll get an incredible contingency of users due to the Bagley and Vernor bike lanes that feed into it.

Compare that to the terminus of the Cut. Ok ...there are a couple of restaurants nearby.
Don't see many users on the St Aubin portion of the Joe Louis Greenway .(Didn't see anyone on it between the south end of Hamtramck and Mack the last several times traveling there) Not much of a neighborhood at it's end either.

As to its maintenance ,I have to believe that it will be under the management of the Riverfront Conservancy . Same as the Riverwalk and the Cut.

Looking at routes for just cycling, it is often a desire to have a path for a long stretch of good well kept pavement to just unleash the dropbars on without the hap hazards of being hassled by those "Hey you!" people or the tire puncturing debris.

RF Company... I hope they improve the frequency of maintenance since the quality of materials & work has been a letdown.

Construction is underway on the trail section that will terminate at W. Warren Ave., by the water plant. I was just at the site on Thursday.

did a roll near Trumbull & Labrosse & almost went a little further to site see the one end, but time was getting thin.

We walked the remainder of the abandoned ROW from the bridge up to Kenwall Steel. The work area was really muddy from all the rain.