Plan Detroit Policy Workshop — Mobility — IN-PERSON ONLY

About five min until we start. There’s currently about 50 people here. Much smaller group than Saturday’s workshop! Plan Detroit has provided participants with sandwiches and other little snacks, which I really appreciate after a long day at work!

Summer Woods is starting off the presentation. I believe she said she’s from an org. called Woods and Watts, but I’m not sure.

Woods stresses that today is NOT ABOUT TRANSIT. It’s outside of the scope of today’s conversation.

Deport Director of Planning and Development department is leading the rest of the intro presentation.

Plan Detroit goal: Create a 20-year vision for growth in Detroit.

Today’s goal: discussing policy approaches for mobility.

Just like Saturday’s presentation, presenter is providing brief overview of data Plan Detroit has collected so far.

Three phases: Analysis and Visioning, Draft Policies, and Final Plan.

We are currently in Draft Policies phase.

Today’s discussion is the fourth of five workshops.

In Phase One, Plan Detroit asked people to fill in the blank: in 20 years Detroit will be _____

Top responses:
Prosperous
Equitable
Safe

Also asked Detroiters what their top priorities are:
#2 was safe streets for everybody

Plan Detroit vision: Detroit will be a city of choice and opportunity.
Values: resilience, equity, innovation, solidarity, and legacy.

Poster boards with these values are posted around the room today for people to leave feedback on.

Data-heavy part of presentation:
- 1.8 million people used to live in Detroit. We have about a third of that today.
- Detroit is 139 sq miles and designed for people with vehicles
-Things feel really far apart.

-Vast majority of city can be reached by bus. However, frequent bus service (buses that run every 20 min) is only reaching about half of Detroiters
-1/5 Detroit households don’t have access to a vehicle
-very challenging to get transit into lower-density neighborhoods

-Parking requirements affect development
-Wide roads and highways make it difficult to get around the city

Breakout groups starting now. First two topics⬇️

Other topics we discussed⬇️

I’ll provide more specific info about what my table discussed in our small group when I get home and can look through my notes! For now, we are back in the large group. There are about half as many people here as there were on Saturday.

One participant is sharing his plan for higher-visibility intersections to protect bicyclists.

There’s excitement about truck routes potentially being separated from bicycle and pedestrian access roads. This would make people feel much safer.

Participants idea: truck hub where they drop shipments off and businesses go to hub to pick up their supplies.

Participants voiced support for bike lane improvements, but also wanted to focus on Detroit’s aging population. We must ensure there is infrastructure to accommodate motorized chairs too

Workshop concluded at 7:35.

Some corrections/clarifications on my earlier posts:

-Should say “Deputy Director” not “Deport Director”

-When presenter said today’s meeting was not about transit, she meant it was not about airing out all our transit grievances- it’s about finding solutions.

Small group discussion

Topic 1- Expanded Parking Flexibility: group really liked this idea, stressed that BSEED and zoning regs need to be totally overhauled, and wanted transit-oriented development

Small group discussion

Topic 2- Neighborhood Transportation Hubs: group really liked this idea too but advocated for neighborhood-specific hubs to address unique needs. Also wanted bigger bus shelters and more bike racks near bus stops

Small group discussion

Topic 3- Better Transit Corridors: group liked this idea for certain areas, but didn’t think it would work in all neighborhoods. Consensus that MDOT shouldn’t have so much control over micro-mobility in the city

Topic 4- Filling in the Gaps: finding short-term solutions to transit gaps and piloting new tech. Group was unimpressed because:

-too vague
-all new tech would probably be tested in areas like corktown which are very different from other neighborhoods
-bandaid/piecemeal solutions for big issues

Topic 5- Freight & Truck Routes: group loved this idea and thought it could be implemented relatively quickly through re-zoning and BSEED accountability. Lots of vacant industrial areas, start there.

Finally, Topic 6- Connected Bicycle Network: most group members use bike as primary transit, so everyone loved this idea. Suggested:

-wider bike lanes
-integrating alleyways on routes
-more east/west routes
-no DPD parking in bike lanes!!

Concern:
-no mention of biker safety in description

Each group discussed all 6 ideas, then separated them into 3 categories:
-like idea
-like it for some neighborhoods
-don’t like it

Pics below show some consensus:
-liked Freight & Truck Routes
-liked Expanded Parking Flexibility in some neighborhoods
-every idea could work in at least some areas

More pics⬇️

I asked a Plan Detroit rep if data from all 5 workshops will be publicly available. She said next step is district-wide community meetings to share insights from these workshops for more feedback.

All 5 presentations and feedback collected will be on Plan Detroit site once aggregated.

I don’t know about you, but I’m very curious about what people in other workshops discussed, especially the Arts & Culture one I wasn’t able to attend. I’ll be keeping an eye on the Plan Detroit website for any updates🔍👀

This concludes my live coverage of the Detroit Planning and Development Dept. Plan Detroit Policy Workshop- Mobility. For more information check out the link below⬇️

Thanks for reading this thread!

If you believe anything in this live coverage is inaccurate, please email us at documenters@outliermedia.org with “Correction Request” in the subject line.

Goodnight Detroit 🌃