FERNDALE (WWJ) -- The City of Ferndale held a public meeting on Monday evening about the redesign of Woodward Avenue which will soon reduce down to three lanes in order to add a protected bike lane.
The Michigan Department of Transportation said during the resurfacing of Woodward -- planned for later this year -- the road will be reduced from four lanes to three in Ferndale and Pleasant Ridge, from Eight Mile Road to Oakridge Street.
During the meeting, residents of Ferndale and Pleasant Ridge were able to ask their questions and express their concerns on this project.
One resident questioned why there wasn't more information provided earlier, but Ferndale's Community and Economic Development Director Jordan Twardy said there have been a lot of discussions.
“Not every road improvement project gets put to a vote, but what we did, is we had several public meetings and we brought this -- in addition to sort of informal town halls -- we had public hearings at our CC meetings. We had virtual meetings with several hundred people who spoke on this project," said Twardy.
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According to a release by Southeast Michigan Council of Governments, one of the components to this project are the protected bike lanes. The lanes are planned to be on-street or street-adjacent bike lanes, physically separated from travel lanes and walkways with vertical elements, such as flexible plastic posts, planters, curbs and on-street parking.
The bike lanes also can be one-way or bi-directional. They are intended to provide the same level of comfort as shared-use paths but are exclusively for bicycle travel.
Lori Swanson from MDOT said bicyclists will have to be aware of pedestrians and vice versa.
“Bicyclists will be warned that there is an intersection ahead -- and they’ll be slowing down to cross the intersection anyway -- so I think people will have to look both ways just like they would have to to cross the street," said Swanson. "Even though it’s a protected pedestrian crossing, you still look to make sure the cars stopped.”
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The person overseeing the project for MDOT couldn't say if the bike lane plan would be extended south of Eight Mile in Detroit.
In addition to the separated bike lanes, the project will include enhancements to adjacent alleyways, sidewalks and paths to ensure safe connectivity throughout the corridor.
SEMCOG stated that the redesigning seeks to create a more "inclusive, safe and accessible" experience along the stretch of Woodward between I-696 and Eight Mile Road.
This includes the reduction of a travel lanes on each side of Woodward, targeting improvements to alleyways and sidewalks, shorter pedestrian crossings, parking-protected bike lanes, improved visibility at intersections and new ADA ramps.
The work is expected to start around Labor Day after the Woodward Dream Cruise and to wrap up in summer 2023.