Before the chill of autumn falls too heavy on Michigan there is Walkable Warren – a way for everyone who wants to get around this part of the Motor City sans the motor.
From September 22-24, the busy two-block stretch on Warren between Woodward and Second Avenues will be reduced to two lanes instead of three. The third lane will be converted into a protected bike lane.
Wayne will show off the improvements that make this area more pedestrian and bike friendly such as painted bike lanes, pedestrian bump-outs and shortened crosswalks.
“Walkable Warren is the most visible of our many placemaking initiatives aimed at making Wayne State a more welcoming, safe and active campus with a strong connection to its neighborhood,” says Jeri Stroupe, senior project administrator in Wayne State’s Office of Economic Development and the organizer of Walkable Warren. “This is an incredible opportunity for our community to influence how one of our city’s major thoroughfares integrates into our neighborhood, accommodating a variety of uses and needs.”
You’ll get a chance to voice your opinion on future improvements during a demonstration from Wayne State students, faculty and staff and the broader community on how to further enhance walkability and bikeability. Those ideas will influence Wayne State’s next master plan.
You’ll also find out about future streetscape changes planned as part of the City of Detroit’s federally funded plan for safety improvements along a five-mile stretch of Warren and the Woodbridge Neighborhood Development Corporation’s Walk Woodbridge initiative.
Thanks to a grant from the Kresge Foundation, the Neighborhood Development Corporation is examining the feasibility of streetscape improvements to make Woodbridge and surrounding neighborhoods safer, more pedestrian and bicyclist friendly, and better connected to the Woodward Corridor.
These prototypes for the city will hopefully increase walking, strolling, sauntering, and biking across the city.
“With several major transportation and housing developments in the works, we anticipate density around the Wayne State campus to continue to increase,” says WSU President M. Roy Wilson. “Projects like Walkable Warren enable us to leverage our resources — our real estate and our talent — to serve the needs of our growing population and positively impact Midtown for generations to come.”
Walkable Warren streetscape designs will be in place Thursday, Sept. 22 through Saturday, Sept. 24.
Besides all this leg-stretching fun be sure and check out the food truck rally, a pop-up market, sidewalk seating and entertainment, and other activities.
The main events are:
Thursday, Sept. 22
Food Truck Rally
11 a.m.-3 p.m.
Friday, September 23
Sidewalk Seating
All Day
Saturday, September 24
Pop-Up Market
1-5 p.m.
Walkable Warren is an official part of the 2016 Detroit Design Festival program, taking place Sept. 21-25. In honor of Detroit’s recent UNESCO City of Design designation, this year’s festival is focused on Designing Detroit’s Future. For a full schedule, visit detroitdesignfestival.com.
