Category: Bicycle Facilities

New Bike Lane!

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We had a great discovery while on our Wednesday night ride last night! We consider this a small victory in our advocacy for better cycling in Dearborn.
For the last several years, we’ve constantly pushed for the simple accomplishments…some lanes just need paint. Vernor Hwy is the perfect example!
In SW Detroit, much of Vernor Hwy has bike lanes. They stopped abruptly just before the Dearborn border. They are now extended into Dearborn up to intersection at Dix Ave where cyclists would continue across to Holly St into the residential neighborhood where Lapeer Park and Salina Intermediate and Elementary schools.

We’re also very happy that the way it’s designed at the intersection in relation to the turn lanes to prevent right hooking! It’s little things like this that make for a safer environment for cyclists.
It’s a short distance, but a huge accomplishment in connecting neighboring communities.

We want to thank the City of Dearborn and Mayor Hammoud for his progressive views on the importance of non-motorized transportation. It’s good for health and the environment!
We’ve updated our Facilities Map to reflect this addition.

Bicycle Data Collection

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Through a generous donation from the Beaumont Foundation, we were able to purchase a Bicycle Counter. Using this counter, we will be able to collect data about the usage of bicycles on our city’s streets.

We are currently testing the counter out on the Rouge Gateway Trail (October/November 2022) until the first snow.

This is allowing us to learn a bit how the software works and the best way to collect data.
The counter consists of a computer enclosed in a metal box and pneumatic tubes that run across the pathway to capture bike coming from both directions.

In the spring of 2023, it is our hope to work with the City of Dearborn to place it on streets that we feel are already being used by cyclists and will benefit from safer infrastructure improvements specifically for cyclists.

We will upload our data to a dashboard accessible from the following link:
https://bike-traffic.herokuapp.com/dearborn-2

Bike Parking at Homecoming

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We are excited that the Dearborn Homecoming Festival is coming back! Unfortunately, we will not be doing Bike Valet Parking as we did the two years prior to the Covid pandemic.

We just didn’t have the volunteer bandwidth this year to make it happen.

Despite that, there is plenty of bike parking in the are around the City’s Administrative Center, Library, and Performing Arts Center. Just be sure to bring a lock! There’s also a public repair station at the Library should you need to tighten a bolt or pump up your tires!

As a note: You’ll have to hop off your bike and walk it through the festival areas to reach the racks.

We hope to see you there!

Here is a map for your convenience! You can also check it out at www.bikedearborn.com/map

– Purple Dot “P” is current bike parking rack locations
– Red Dot “wrench” is our Public Repair Station with Air Pump

Map of Bike Parking and Repair in the Area of the 2022 Dearborn Homecoming Festival

Bicycle Friendly Business – LaBo Family Chiropractic

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Through our Bike Dearborn and Healthy Dearborn Walk n Roll hosted events, businesses in Dearborn are realizing the importance of becoming a bicycle friendly business. This can mean a number of things for the individual business. Most importantly, it’s recognizing a demographic of clientele that become very loyal to the business.

Our first featured business is LaBo Family Chiropractic. Dr. Heidi LaBo contacted us about hosting a Walk n Roll after seeing the success of our event across the street from her office at Joe and Reno’s Pizzeria. Dr. Heidi saw the value that could be added to her office and her patients by not only hosting a Walk n Roll event to introduce her business to our participants, but to add a permanent bike rack for parking near the rear entrance of her office.

I asked Dr. Heidi 3 questions.
1. In a few short sentences, tell us about your business.
2. What was the influencing factor in becoming a bicycle friendly business?
3. What steps did you take to become a bicycle friendly business and what do you hope to achieve?
4. Do you have any plans to do anything else to attract bicyclists to your business?

Dr. Heidi’s answers.
I am Dr Heidi LaBo and I’ve been a chiropractor in Dearborn for 20 years. We adjust patients from newborns just hours old to 98 years young and everyone in between. Becoming a bike friendly business made so much sense for us as we are a wellness facility! We educate our patients on proper body mechanics so they can prevent injury while they exercise and we love to promote healthy living. What better way than to ride your bike to an appointment! We asked to participate with Bike Dearborn to help educate our community on health and wellness. In preparation for the event I got a bike rack and bike parking sign. What a huge hit it has been with our patients. We have patients riding their bikes to their appointments everyday now. Seeing the large interest in patients using our bike rack has motivated us to hold a future workshop about proper bike riding posture and some stretching exercises prior to riding. Thank you Bike Dearborn for giving us this opportunity and for motivating us to reach out to the fellow bikers in our community!

Thank you Dr. Heidi and Staff at LaBo Family Chiropractic for making Bicycling Better in Dearborn!

Bike Dearborn Public Bike Repair Stations

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Have you seen them? With the help of many, Bike Dearborn has been able to install THREE public bike repair stations around the city. Thank you to all who made it possible to provide these for the resident and visitor cyclists in our city.
These stations feature all the tools necessary for on the fly flat tire repairs (patches and tubes not included) including an air pump that fits both types of bike tire valves as well as most tools for other quick maintenance issues.

We hope to add more in the future.
If you or your business would like to sponsor a station, please contact us.

Our first station is located between the two parking structures that are adjacent to the West Village Commons area. Funding was provided by Downtown Dearborn and the League of Michigan Bicyclists.

Our Second Station is located at the Rouge Gateway trailhead across from the John Dingell Transit Center. Funding was provided by the League of Michigan Bicyclists, Mayor O’Reilly, and Dearborn Brewing.

  • Funding provided by the League of Michigan Bicyclists, Mayor O'Reilly, and Dearborn Brewing

Our third station can be found along Michigan Avenue at the Zagster Bike Share Station in front of the City Hall Art Space Lofts and City Hall Park. Funding was provided by Discount Tire Company.

THANKS, LEAGUE OF MICHIGAN BICYCLISTS – BETTER BIKING IN DEARBORN

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The Better Bike Project is a first for the City of Dearborn. Through this project Bike Dearborn has been able to install the first two Public Use Bike Repair Stations in the City. These Bike Fixation brand Deluxe Public Work Stands include a bike pump and all the tools necessary to perform basic bike repairs and maintenance, from changing a flat to adjusting brakes and derailleurs. The stations have a high visibility powder coat and feature vinyl graphics with the LMB logo and the other funders of this project.

The first repair station is located on the upcoming Discover Dearborn Bike Route in the heart of West Downtown Dearborn. This location is within close proximity to many popular restaurants, retail shops, and a summer farmer’s market. Near an existing Bike Share station and new bike parking corral, this highly visible location by the West Village Commons Plaza is sure to be a hit. Funding for this station came from the LMB micro-grant and the West Dearborn Downtown Development Authority

The second repair station will be located along the extremely popular Rouge River Gateway Trail, just on the outskirts of West Downtown Dearborn. This repair station will be located on an existing concrete slab at the trailhead in close proximity of the trailhead parking lot, John D. Dingell Transit Center, Ford Field Regional Park and the Dearborn Historical Museum. Funding for this station came from the LMB grant, Dearborn Mayor Jack O’Reilly’s One Dearborn Foundation,  and Dearborn Brewing.

The second station has been purchased but installation has been delayed due to construction by Wayne County. A “fishway” passage is being constructed by the century-old Jens Jensen dam at Henry Ford’s Fairlane Estate. This construction has caused a closure of the Rouge River Gateway Trail near the installation site. The repair station will be placed at the trailhead in the next few months once it is verified that it will not be damaged by construction traffic.

The City of Dearborn has generously donated the time and labor of the DPW crew to install the stations. The City and related departments have been extremely supportive of this project.

Bike Dearborn looks forward to continuing this project in the future with additional stations throughout all areas of the City.  Thank you League of Michigan Bicyclists for seeing the vision of our organization and being a part of our celebration of Better Biking in Dearborn! 
www.lmb.org
​www.bikedearborn.com