The City of Ferndale is improving its bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure with a number of upgrades this spring and summer.
Building off work completed in 2016, Ferndale is constructing new bike lanes, improving others, and connecting them to surrounding communities that include Hazel Park and Pleasant Ridge.
Many of the improvements are coming along the Woodward Heights corridor. The standard bike lanes from Bermuda to Hilton will be widened and protected. New pavement is planned for the shared bike lanes from Hilton to Chester. Shared bike lanes will be extended to the eastern border at Pilgrim.
Justin Lyons, Planning Manager for the city, says that Hazel Park will extend those bike lanes to the I-75 bridge. Pleasant Ridge will also improve a neighboring pedestrian crossing.
The increasingly popular light industrial district along Woodward Heights and west of Hilton, home to such relatively new businesses as Urbanrest Brewing Company and Farm Field Table, will also receive new trees, a new sidewalk, and improved pedestrian crossings.
"There’s more attention coming to this part of the city. It’s still a light industrial district but Ferndale is known for entrepreneurs wanting these places to work in but also have customers visit, like the brewery," Lyons says.
"The area is a hidden treasure that people are starting to discover."
In total, the project will cost $2.6 million, made possible through a combination of city, federal, and Transportation Alternatives Program, or TAP, funding.
The projects will soon go out to bid, with construction beginning at the end of April.
Ferndale is also benefiting from the Detroit-based bikeshare program MoGo, which is expanding from the city and into several Oakland County communities. Community meetings will help suggest where stations will be located.
Visit the Ferndale Moves website to keep up to date on the improvements.
Got a development news story to share? Email MJ Galbraith here or send him a tweet @mikegalbraith.
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