The Michigan Department of Transportation is currently repaving a stretch of Michigan Avenue from Rosa Parks Blvd. west to Livernois.
So?
Well, what's notable is the addition of bike lanes, which reconfigures the trunk line into two lanes of vehicular traffic and one dedicated parking lane in either direction, a center turning lane and bike lanes. Bike lanes added a "negligible" cost to the overall $7.2 million project, according to Matthew Chynoweth, development engineer at the MDOT Detroit Transportation Service Center.
Todd Scott, the Detroit trails coordinator of the
Michigan Trails and Greenways Alliance, says that bike lanes on the city's "spoke" roads are key to the city's overall non-motorized transportation plan. "In terms of a greenways network, all spoke roads are key connectors," he says. "Spoke roads are a great way to get from anywhere in the city to Downtown."
Bike lanes on this portion of Michigan Avenue will also play into the Corktown-Mexicantown Greenlink that will be built in Spring 2011. The series of bike and pedestrian pathways and bike lanes, which is funded primarily by MDOT and the Greenways Initiative of the Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan, is intended to connect the neighborhoods of Corktown and Mexicantown to each other and to the Detroit River. Roads that are included in the network include Trumbull, Rosa Parks Blvd., W. Vernor, W. Grand Blvd., Martin Luther King, Jr., Blvd., Bagley and Lafayette.
Source: Matthew Chynoweth, MDOT and Todd Scott, MTGA
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh
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