FERNDALE, Mich. (WXYZ) — Oak Park resident Michael Smith is excited about the areas new bike lanes.
“They’re wonderful,” he said.
Even with the snow, ice, and freezing rain, Smith had to get to work.
He doesn’t a car — but he does have a bike.
The bike lanes along Woodward Avenue in Downtown Ferndale are a big help for him.
“It just makes things a lot more easier for me,” Smith said. “I don’t have to worry about bumping into people on the sidewalk.”
But inside Hambo Coney Island, some are a bit concerned.
“I think it’s great for the bicyclists, right now it is really confusing for the customers who like to park out front,” said Linda Peretto, waitress at Hambo Coney Island.
It’s this type of feedback that could help change how roads are built in the future.
The Michigan Department of Transportation wants to know what you think:
- “What are your priorities when planning streets?”
- “What's important to you when updating the complete streets policy related to reducing roadway crashes?”
These are just a few of the questions MDOT wants answers to on its online survey.
“You’re not going to see a ‘quote on quote’ complete street on every roadway. The point of trickling this down is to work in partnership with our local road agencies across the state, to look at a transportation network or a transportation system, to really see where a complete street fits for folks and where they need it,” said Amy Matisoff, a strategic alignment, outreach & tribal liaison with MDOT.
You might think ‘why is MDOT concerned about this when they just oversee freeways?”
MDOT is in charge of roads with “US” and “M” routes — which can see some pedestrian traffic.
Complete streets might make sense in these areas.
Woodward in Ferndale underwent a complete streets update over the summer.
In the past, so has Michigan Avenue in Corktown.
A look from Google Street View in 2007 when compared to 2023 reveals less lanes of traffic, but also a bike lane and parking.
Michigan Avenue in Corktown in 2007:
Michigan Avenue in Corktown in 2023:
The next roadways to undergo the complete street initiative are Ford Road in Canton and the Woodward Loop in Pontiac.
While no one was against pedestrian safety that 7 Action News spoke to there is still concern about getting from point 'a' to point 'b.'
“Vehicle traffic is a little bit more important than bike traffic,” said Raad Herfi, who grew up in Ferndale. “I just think there’s more people driving vehicles obviously than on bikes.”
MDOT's survey is available, now through February 9, by clicking here.
