  Fishtoes2000 Member Username: Fishtoes2000 Post Number: 383 Registered: 06-2005 |
Yeah, bike racks! Detroit got a Transportation Enhancement (TE) grant from MDOT. It may involve "curb-cuts to somewhere".  ======================== The city of Detroit will streetscape cross-streets in the lower Woodward area of downtown Detroit. This project will complement other enhancements to major downtown Detroit streets in recent years by improving the secondary streets that physically connect the newly upgraded streets. The streets to be improved are Park Street, from Woodward to Adams Streets; Witherell, from Woodward to Adams; Adams, from Park to Witherell, Grand River Avenue, from Washington Boulevard to Broadway Avenue; and Clifford/John R., from Washington Boulevard to Broadway Avenue. Improvements will include bicycle racks, scored and decorative sidewalk paving, ornamental street lighting and upgrading existing sidewalks to accommodate pedestrian traffic. This project will improve the area, making it attractive and safer for pedestrians, and add to the city of Detroit's efforts to make all public areas in lower Woodward more inviting. The project budget is $1,091,266, with $873,013 in TE funds and $218,253 in matching funds from the city of Detroit. | ||
Ericsprague Member Username: Ericsprague Post Number: 30 Registered: 02-2006 |
That's great to hear! This should in particular accelerate investment and confidence in the renewal of Capital Park. Do you have an idea of the design/construction schedule? | ||
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw Post Number: 4327 Registered: 02-2005 |
Thanks for the post. That is pretty key...raising the rest of downtown to the standard now set along Woodward. Decorative paving really isn't needed-- hopefully there's limited extra cost here-- but the ornamental street lights and bike racks are reasons to get excited. | ||
Detroitrise Member Username: Detroitrise Post Number: 1363 Registered: 09-2007 |
They're a little late on this. They've already begun with this along Grand River, Griswold and State Street. | ||
Ericsprague Member Username: Ericsprague Post Number: 31 Registered: 02-2006 |
Hopefully Michigan Avenue will also be streetscaped soon, strengthening the link from Campus Martius to Washington Blvd., or ideally all the way past the MGM to Corktown. It would make most sense to do this before the Book Cadillac and Griswold garage/retail are finished, since new sidewalks will need to be installed along that stretch anyway. | ||
Detroitrise Member Username: Detroitrise Post Number: 1364 Registered: 09-2007 |
Michigan Avenue is also planned to be streetscaped for the B/C and Griswold. They initially started on this the past summer, so they're probably waiting on the weather to break again to really start on Michigan Avenue. | ||
Ericsprague Member Username: Ericsprague Post Number: 32 Registered: 02-2006 |
Thanks for the info. about these additional areas being done, Detroitrise! It will be great seeing all the work (streets and buildings) that will have been completed by the end of this year (or sooner). | ||
Rocket_city Member Username: Rocket_city Post Number: 524 Registered: 04-2006 |
I will love the street lights! They do wonders for abandoned buildings even. | ||
Professorscott Member Username: Professorscott Post Number: 1044 Registered: 12-2006 |
What does "upgrading existing sidewalks to accommodate pedestrian traffic" mean? What have the sidewalks been doing up to now? We have sidewalks in Detroit that don't accommodate pedestrian traffic? Sheesh. All the ones I walk on seem to work just fine. | ||
Livernoisyard Member Username: Livernoisyard Post Number: 4819 Registered: 10-2004 |
Sounds like some more crony sand and gravel contractors and other crooks are getting theirs... | ||
Eric Member Username: Eric Post Number: 1077 Registered: 11-2004 |
Yeah, how dare those city hall crooks go around improving the city's infrastructure | ||
Professorscott Member Username: Professorscott Post Number: 1045 Registered: 12-2006 |
Well, you know, sometimes these things are really an improvement and sometimes they are a waste of money. Remember the monkey bars along Washington Blvd., which thankfully now are gone? What kind of purpose did that "streetscape improvement" ever serve? On the other hand, when Livernois was transformed from a nine lane pseudo-expressway to a four lane road with a median between West McNichols and West Eight Mile, it made it possible for a pedestrian to cross the street without risk to life and limb, which to me is an actual improvement. Planting more trees (which Detroit used to be famous for, pre Dutch Elm Disease) would be a useful improvement. Adding a network of bike lanes, which real cities already have, would be a real improvement. (Like transit, this is an area where Detroit and all of Michigan is 20 or 30 years behind the successful states.) So I wonder whether what is going to happen here is a real improvement or nonsense. We'll see, I suppose. | ||
Livernoisyard Member Username: Livernoisyard Post Number: 4820 Registered: 10-2004 |
Seems similar to what DPS did a few years ago when they replaced miles of perfectly good (but older) chain-link fences for many schools with brand-new fences. This, mind you, was back when DPS was complaining about being broke. Follow the money, and be advised that they'll (state and locally) spend all the available money while the griddle is still hot--i.e., before the next scheduled money crisis. | ||
Hunchentoot Member Username: Hunchentoot Post Number: 62 Registered: 03-2005 |
This project is what George Jackson mentioned a few months back in his Cityscape Detroit talk. If I'm not mistaken this is the work of the DEGC, who are the ones who decided Washington should be a Boulevard again. These specific streets, when finished, will create a consistently streetscaped core in the CBD. I can only imagine that sidewalks will be widened in some places, and that's what that weird language about pedestrianism is about. This is only good news. | ||
Eric Member Username: Eric Post Number: 1079 Registered: 11-2004 |
quote: You have a point the old Washington streetscape was a gimmicky waste of money . However, the latest ones have consisted of nothing more than new sidewalks, historic street lights and new trees. So this will be genuine improvement | ||
Livernoisyard Member Username: Livernoisyard Post Number: 4822 Registered: 10-2004 |
Well, you know... Build sidewalks, and they will come. Next, some will bitch that they want mass sidewalks because so many on DY don't know the difference between mass and rapid sidewalks. | ||
Parkguy Member Username: Parkguy Post Number: 200 Registered: 04-2007 |
I hope they follow the idea of "complete streets," which are streets designed for EVERYONE to use, autos, transit, cycles, pedestrians-- all safely and conveniently. That would be a great idea for the city to just put into policy. http://www.completestreets.org / | ||
Mackinaw Member Username: Mackinaw Post Number: 4334 Registered: 02-2005 |
Cool link, Parkguy. I think that's most important for major thoroughfares and new suburban development. It can easily be adapted to large city streets in Detroit, though. Woodward, Jefferson, and Michigan are so wide...you could fit a bus-only lane and a bike lane. | ||
Professorscott Member Username: Professorscott Post Number: 1047 Registered: 12-2006 |
Complete Streets is a great concept, but the people who work on transportation in Michigan don't seem to have any idea about it. I met an MDOT person, one of the regional managers, and he said with a straight face that if you want to bicycle you should build more bike trails. The roads, he said, and meant it, are for cars. So long as we have people like that planning our transportation systems, you better drive. | ||
Peter Member Username: Peter Post Number: 121 Registered: 02-2007 |
Why aren't there dedicated bicycle lanes in Detroit? I know they are all over Florida and other states I'm sure... | ||
Russix Member Username: Russix Post Number: 62 Registered: 11-2006 |
There is one in front of Ren Cen, the valet people find it a convenient place to put their parking sign! | ||
Thegryphon Member Username: Thegryphon Post Number: 19 Registered: 11-2007 |
Bike lanes? It seems like a waste of money. I'd rather see street lights that work! Ride a bike on the sidewalk! Perhaps I am ignorant but,how exactly does a bike lane make the CBD more viable? | ||
401don Member Username: 401don Post Number: 207 Registered: 11-2007 |
I agree street lights is a priority over bike lanes or flower pots for that matter. Unfortunately with gov't operating costs and capitol improvements never seem to come from the same kitty. | ||
Livernoisyard Member Username: Livernoisyard Post Number: 4833 Registered: 10-2004 |
quote:Are we talking about the building in DC or the one in Lansing? | ||
Umtim Member Username: Umtim Post Number: 10 Registered: 12-2007 |
Of course we had roads before we had autos. Certainly bikes are a good form of transportation in the city. No pollution, cheap and healthy. Using the road for the betterment of all is a wise use of tax dollars. It is a struggle to find green forms of transportation. Efforts that embrace all options are needed. | ||
Peter Member Username: Peter Post Number: 122 Registered: 02-2007 |
Thegryphon- in most major cities it is difficult for people to bicycle on the sidewalks because there are too many people walking on them. Thus a bicycle lane is created... most of Detroits roads have more lanes than capacity demands and can spare a few feet along the sides. Creating bicycle lanes could be an inexpensive way to make bicyclists feel more safe and welcome biking around the city. | ||
Thegryphon Member Username: Thegryphon Post Number: 21 Registered: 11-2007 |
Yeah, I guess that is pretty inexpensive too, painting some lines... But how many people will really benefit? I went to Seattle and I remember there are bike-paths from the 'burbs into the CBD so people can commute that way. But in the D? I thought it would be waaay to cold to bike along Woodward in February. | ||
Fishtoes2000 Member Username: Fishtoes2000 Post Number: 385 Registered: 06-2005 |
quote: I think that's a common misconception. You know which U.S. city has the second highest bike commute rate? Minneapolis. Canada has a higher overall rate than Michigan, too. When biking, your body generates up to 10 times more heat than when sedentary. Unfortunately it takes about a mile of riding before that internal furnace kicks in. But, once it does kick in, it's not too difficult staying warm with the proper clothes. I've found the biggest drawbacks to winter cycling are you have more and/or different clothes to deal with and less daylight. | ||
Busterwmu Member Username: Busterwmu Post Number: 416 Registered: 09-2004 |
Keep those street improvements coming!! This will probably finish off the old 80's retro round globe lights and brown (pre-rusted steel?) traffic lights along Grand River near Woodward and at Capitol Park. Broadway, lower Woodward, and Washington Blvd look great! This will be good for the Grand Circus area, too. |
