Hey everyone,
Here is an article Jack sent me he wanted to share with the world wide web:
Thoughts on Detroit’s New Bike Lanes
by Jack VanDyke
Now that they have been there for a few months, a friend of mine asked me recently if I had used any of the bike lanes in the Corktown and Mexicantown neighborhoods. I replied that I only had one weekly errand that took me up and down Trumbull, but that I was curious to see the rest of them. But even though I only marginally benefit from the new lanes, the riding that I have done on Trumbull has been a refreshingly different experience because of them.
Unlike the bicycle lanes on the MacArthur Bridge or behind the Renaissance Center, the lanes that are part of the Corktown-Mexicantown GreenLink don’t feel like an afterthought. They occcupy space on most of the major thoroughfares in that part of Detroit, including Bagley, Vernor, Trumbull (all two-way), Rosa Parks, 14th (both one-way) and best of all, Michigan Avenue. Using them makes one feel like a recognized user of the road. Even though traffic volumes in Detroit are relatively light for its wide streets, it still feels validating to see one’s transportation choice given space on the public roadway.
For me, though, the best benefit of the new lanes has been how they have changed the conversations that I have with the customers and volunteers at the Hub. I had gotten so used to referring to other cities’ bike infrastructure, I had just taken it for granted that Detroit would remain a bastion of automobile civility forever. Now, there is something to point to; at least one part of the city that has expressed a shift in transportation priority, however small. For any organization interested in a particular type of social change, being able to point to evidence of progress does as much for the morale of the organization’s membership as it does for the morale of the community being served. And if this is the first step, the eventual implementation of the city’s non-motorized plan bodes well for the Detroit cyclist.
Yay Jack, morale is indeed a critical intangible that we often underestimate in importance. My only regret is not still living in Southwest Detroit. I could have certainly used them on my harrowing bike commute from Hubbard to Springwells….
Since I have been riding the streets of Detroit for about 50 years, the designating of bike lanes doesn’t change much for me. But my teaching job recently shifted to a school in SW detroit, so I am riding down Michigan and W. Vernor twice a day from my home in Lafayette Park. The distance is 4.3 miles – a pleasant ride that I have taken on 40 of the 60 school days this semester.
The difference I notice is not in my riding, but in the drivers of the automobiles. What is painted on the asphalt serves as a constant reminder that bikes actually exist, and I am seeing motorists actually looking out for bikes before they cross that bike lane.