Today was Bike to Work Day and my first time on my bike in 2018. Part of our route downtown took us down Cass Avenue after to avoid the perilous QLine tracks and take advantage of the new protected bike lanes, which I hadn’t yet ridden.
They are, quite simply, fantastic.
They’re clearly delineated by striping and green paint at intersections, with clear directional arrows (they’re not wide enough for two-way traffic). And they’re protected from motorized traffic by strips of plastic bollards mounted along a wide, marked strip, and also by a lane dedicated to on-street parking.
There are also areas painted red to delineate bus stops and others to mark areas for trucks for loading zones.
Todd Scott, the executive director of the Detroit Greenways Coalition who worked closely on this project, told us on the podcast last year it was always going to be a tight fit on Cass and would require some education for all parties — cyclists, pedestrians, drivers — to learn how everything worked and to avoid mishaps. From a bicyclist’s perspective, at least, mission accomplished.
I felt safe, confident and even valued as a two-wheeled traveler. It reminded me of whizzing around the many bike lanes of Amsterdam many years ago.
Sure, there are some issues, as Mayor Mike Duggan related recently, including some excess debris in some areas and a lack of street sweeping. I’d also admit that the narrowing of the motorized traffic lanes makes it quite a bit trickier to cross Cass from a side street while driving, as I discovered recently. But I’m sure it’ll get worked out. Scott says bike traffic counters will be activated soon. I saw lots of riders today, so I’m confident the data will vindicate the bike lanes.
In the meantime, crews have already started work on a $1 million project to add the same design of bike lanes on nearly 5.5 miles of East Jefferson in Detroit, connecting the eastern edge of downtown to the city’s border with Grosse Pointe Park. That project is expected to wrap up by the Fourth of July.
Our bike counters are now out on E Jefferson. Will take more counts after the bike lanes are installed. Seen 8 bikes in 1 hour but only 2 in street. pic.twitter.com/IvwxxwP1nm
— Detroit Greenways (@DetroitGreenway) May 18, 2018
It’s remarkable how much Detroit’s bicycling infrastructure has improved in just the last few years, with nearly 180 miles of (mostly non-protected) bike lanes already in existence, and lots more to come.
What a joke! If you ask the residents in the neighborhoods about bike,the answer would be take them away. Its seem the majority of the riders are from other counties.
Thanks for the comment.