Blogger: This Cyclist Thinks Birmingham Roads Are Just Fine

"Is it worth spending large dollars — anyone's large dollars — to make something that is already excellent even better?"

A Multi-City Bike Path Running Through Birmingham? Learn More Wednesday

Birmingham city planner Sue Weckerle will update attendees of Wednesday's Bike Summit about Birmingham's progress crafting its own multi-modal transportation plan.

Residents from Birmingham and along the Woodward Avenue corridor interested in brainstorming plans for a multi-city bike path can have their say at a public meeting in Royal Oak Wednesday. A Bike Summit is scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Royal Oak Public Library, located at 222 E. 11 Mile Rd. in downtown Royal Oak. According to event organizers, the purpose of the Bike Summit is to provide a forum for citizens to discuss a multi-city push for alternative modes of transportation, including marked bicycle routes, sharrows, bicycle boulevards and paths to link the various communities along Woodward Avenue. Residents who live and work in Berkley, Birmingham, Clawson, Ferndale, Huntington Woods, Oak Park, Royal Oak and Southfield are …

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Letters to the Editor

Letter to the Editor: Bike Lanes Proposal for Maple Road Stirs Concern

Resident fears 'significant spillover traffic into our neighborhood' if thoroughfare narrows.

I have read about the possibility of a major restructuring of Maple Road from Eton to Woodward. It would reduce Maple from two lanes in each direction to one each way with a center turn lane in between. Bike paths on each side also are proposed. Given the reduction in lanes, this could result in significant spillover traffic into our neighborhood during rush hours. Even the company employed to make the design admits this is a real possibility. The Poppleton-Oakland corridor could really be affected, but all streets leading into our subdivision are vulnerable. Granted, entry supposedly is restricted during rush hours, but enforcement is almost nonexistent. I sent a letter to Paul O'Meara, the city engineer, and he was supportive. He said …

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Letters to the Editor

Letter to the Editor: Plan Would Make Maple 'More Crowded and Slower'

Homeowner predicts increased vehicle detours through neighborhoods if bike lanes are OK'd.

This letter was received by Birmingham Patch Editor Laura Houser and comments on a proposal to eliminate one of Maple Road's four vehicle lanes, the subject of a Feb. 13 public hearing by the City Commission. I'm very much against the proposal to reduce East Maple Road to three vehicle lanes between Eton Road and Woodward Avenue so that two bike lanes can be added. Maple, which I use regularly, would become more crowded and slower-moving. Residents living along that one-mile portion of the busy road would have a much harder time pulling out of their driveways with just one eastbound and one westbound traffic lane. Another certain result would be an unwelcome increase in cut-through traffic on streets in our South Poppleton Park area and …

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