only whatever constraints our imagination
may have.”
Just as the Connor Creek Greenway fol-
lows a natural and essential current toward
the city’s riverine artery, in recent years the
people of Detroit have begun to look again
to their river as the polestar of the com-
munity. The most visible and remarkable
expression of that renewed interest in the
city’s waterfront is the Detroit RiverWalk.
Up until a few years ago, the Detroit
River’s edge was lined with parking lots
and derelict spaces, the somehow uni-
versal no man’s land of light industry, or
private, inaccessible parcels.
The formation of the Detroit
RiverFront Conservancy, Inc. in 2003
would prove to be a pivotal moment in
the city’s history.
The audacious goal was free access for
the people—a 5.5-mile multi-use prom-
enade and pathway from the Ambassador
Bridge east to MacArthur Bridge and
Belle Isle, which the RiverWalk’s architects
knew would be an amenity that would
invigorate Detroit and its residents.
The timing was right. It was a period of
intense and ambitious development, and
the City of Detroit provided critical sec-
tions of riverfront land and infrastructure
improvements. Pursuing a creative strategy
of private and public funding support,
the RiverWalk project was heavily backed
by General Motors (GM), one of the key
waterfront landowners, and the Kresge
Foundation, which donated $50 million as
a challenge grant to encourage matching
private and public sector contributions.
The RiverWalk today is a vibrant
place. GM workers on their lunch break
stroll past people fishing, tourists renting
bikes from the Wheelhouse, joggers and
families.
This spring, the Detroit RiverFront
Conservancy celebrated the opening of two
new sections of public RiverWalk parks,
including the revitalized 20-acre former
site of the Detroit Free Press printing plant.
The original vision for the RiverWalk is
now about three-quarters realized.
On the Street
In addition to these key trail segments,
the local appetite for biking is also
being fueled by the massive expanses of
underutilized roadway. What could be
perceived as a white elephant has in fact
become Detroit’s competitive advantage
in the race between new urban centers
toward bikeability.
Detroit’s wide and underutilized roads
have spawned one of the greatest street
riding cultures anywhere in the world. If
you’re looking for the truly iconic Detroit
street machine, these days it’s much more
likely to be a Grown Men On Bikes
(
G.M.O.B.) custom-built Lowrider than
a Lincoln.
The abundance of road space has facili-
tated an explosion in striped bike lanes—
from not a single mile in 2009 to about
150
miles today, 80 miles of which were
created in 2013 alone. The rapid change in
the size and flows of the city over the past
decade has essentially hit a reset button for
transportation and movement in Detroit.
“
In the past, not many people lived
within biking distance of where the jobs
were,” says Todd Scott, Detroit greenways
coordinator for the Michigan Trails and
Greenways Alliance (
michigantrails.org
)
.
“
That’s changing now as more jobs are
moving downtown.”
Scott says the major downtown proj-
ects—the RiverWalk and the Dequindre
Cut—are just the first stages of much
broader redevelopment focused around
mobility and quality of life.
“
That vision is to build biking and
walking trails throughout the entire city
to give everyone the opportunity to get
out and recreate, to commute, to save
money with affordable transportation and
to live healthy lives.”
One might be able to dismiss Scott’s
lofty ambition as wishful thinking, were it
not for what he and his peers have already
been able to make real.
But as we explore the engines behind
this new and emerging Detroit, the
Clockwise from top: A section of the Dequindre
Cut in October 2013, pre-revitalization; the
Riverwalk; Slow Roll veteran rider Madi Torres
(9
years of age in photo—now 10).
Jake Lynch (2)
Darius Baber
rails
to
trails
u
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