The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
2 — Wednesday, March 16, 2022
PHOTO
Moving beyond Gold-Level: Ann Arbor
cyclists want better biking infrastructure
Bike-lane advocates talk safety, accessibility concerns
ALI CHAMI/Daily
Kelly Hoppenjans performs at Michigan’s Got Talent on Wednesday evening.
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JULIANNE YOON/Daily
When Nate Phipps, the
co-founder of Bike Alliance
of Washtenaw and managing
director of the Center for
Education Design, Evaluation
and Research at the University
of Michigan, first moved to
Ann Arbor from Boston in 2014,
he said he felt disappointed by
the comparative lack of biking
infrastructure.
Since
then,
Phipps decided to get involved
in community organizing to
make Ann Arbor more bike-
friendly.
“My (first) impression was
that (Ann Arbor) is fine for
me, but it’s not fine for people
who are more cautious or less
experienced riding in a city,”
Phipps said. “For a decade,
Ann Arbor was behind (in)
real
progressive
bicycle
infrastructure.”
Since Phipps arrived, biking
infrastructure in Ann Arbor
has improved substantially. In
December 2021, Ann Arbor
was named by the League
of American Bicyclists as a
Gold-level
Bicycle
Friendly
Community
in
recognition
of
recent
infrastructure
improvements, with its bike
lanes expanding from 37.4
miles in 2012 to 90.1 miles in
2022. Across the U.S., 35 of
850 communities who applied
were
awarded
Gold-level
status, with just 5 awarded the
highest status: Platinum-level.
This award is not only based on
quantitative data — such as the
number of bikers and miles of
bike paths — but also takes into
account community education
and biker advocacy.
In July 2020, the city of Ann
Arbor also implemented the
Healthy Street Pilot Projects,
which included closing off
downtown streets to expand
social distancing procedures for
pedestrians and bicycle traffic.
State Street and its intersection
with North University as well
as Catherine Street and Miller
Avenue are two major street
areas included in the project.
City Council’s July resolution
asks the Ann Arbor Downtown
Development
Authority
to
implement the project through
2022, so the project will return
again this spring.
While the city is supportive
of biking infrastructure, since
it aligns with the A2ZERO
plan
to
achieve
carbon
neutrality
by
2030,
biking
development in Ann Arbor still
has room to improve. To take
a deeper look into the current
state of biking accessibility, The
Michigan Daily spoke with
multiple cyclists and bike-lane
advocates to discuss safety and
accessibility concerns they have
about biking infrastructure in
Ann Arbor today.
Inter-campus commuting
concerns
Fred Feng, U-M Dearborn
researcher
and
assistant
professor of industrial and
manufacturing
systems
engineering, said he biked
over the East Medical Center
Bridge hundreds of times
during the five years he was a
Ph.D. student at the Ann Arbor
campus. The Fuller and East
Medical Center Bridge leads to
the University’s medical center
and connects the Central and
North Campuses. Recently,
the Ann Arbor City Council
approved a proposal to widen
the bridge with a fifth lane for
automobiles, which prompted
community
backlash,
particularly from pedestrians
and cyclists who rely on the
bridge for daily commuting.
Based
on
his
research
into
safe
and
sustainable
transportation methods as well
as his personal experiences,
Feng said the proposed design
for the Medical Center Bridge
is not only counterproductive
to climate change mitigation
efforts — by accommodating
more vehicle traffic — but also
exacerbates
existing
safety
challenges to cyclists.
“The
Federal
Highway
Administration recommended
a minimum of 5 feet width for
people to walk side-by-side
(in one direction),” Feng said.
“A total of 8 feet, which is the
width of the new design on
the west side, was too narrow
even for current bi-direction
walking and biking traffic.”
The
University’s
community relations director
Michael Rein suggested at the
Feb. 7 City Council meeting
that reducing the width on
the west side of the bridge to 8
feet will be offset by widening
the east side of the bridge to 13
feet, which could divert some
non-motorized traffic from the
west. Feng, however, warned
it might be more difficult
than the University thinks for
commuters to adjust their usual
routes in light of the changes.
“If we learned something
from the past decades, it is
that some people are going
to do things that make the
most sense to them,” Feng
said.
“Simply
narrowing
the
west
side
of
the
bridge, which is the most
straightforward connection
for many, and telling (them)
not to use it is highly
unlikely to work.”
Read more at MichiganDaily.
com
BUSINESS
Condado Tacos combines signature flavors,
grafti-style art in new downtown location
Ohio-based company opens with a special “Year of Yum” for first 100 customers
Downtown Ann Arbor
is now home to its very own
Condado Tacos, a build-
your-own taco joint complete
with vibrant floor-to-ceiling
murals
and
a
signature
margarita menu.
The Ohio-based company
opened its new location to
the public on March 3 with a
special “Year of Yum” which
offered the first one hundred
visitors one free taco per
week for a year. The eatery
also offered all customers $5
margaritas and the chance to
win a $1,000 gift card.
The opening-day special
offerings attracted hundreds
of
students
and
local
residents to the restaurant,
with the first visitors lining
up as early as 8 a.m. LSA
senior Katherine Springer
said she attended the opening
for the chance of earning a
year’s worth of free tacos,
especially
since
she
has
visited other locations of
Condado Tacos.
“We
love
free
food,”
Springer said. “My sister
actually
lives
outside
of
Cincinnati (and) she has
(Condado Tacos locations)
around her so we’ll go to eat
(there). And I know they’re
really good tacos, so I just got
really excited.”
Since
the
company’s
establishment in 2014, 30
Condado
Tacos
locations
have
popped
up
across
six states in the Midwest.
According to Rob Hanley, the
Ann Arbor location’s general
manager, 401 E. Liberty
Street
is
the
company’s
fourth
installment
in
Southeastern
Michigan’s
Detroit metropolitan area.
In an interview with The
Michigan Daily, Hanley said
he attributed much of the
opening day’s success to the
company’s reputation across
the Midwest.
“We got past a hundred
(people by) around 9:15,”
Hanley said. “We have a lot
of people that go around
the Midwest, where we’re
predominantly
located,
(who) want to come in (and)
be one of the first ones in
the space to see all the new
artwork and stuff like that …
So we filled up shortly after
we opened for the first time
at 11.”
Inside, the restaurant’s
wall murals are filled with
vibrant splashes of color
and graffiti-style lettering.
One tag reads “University
of Yum,” referencing the
location’s proximity to the
University
of
Michigan’s
campus. Hanley said the
restaurant collaborated with
local artists to bring the
indoor space to life.
“We hire a lot of local
muralists and artists to come
in and give our space a unique
and very vibrant display,”
Hanley said. “We are very big
on supporting the arts … Part
of our building is (designed)
to remind people of the Ann
Arbor Graffiti Alley. So we
have portions of our building
that recreates that vibe with
the different types of graffiti
art that artists came in and
did.”
LSA junior Zhen Lin said
the restaurant’s ambiance
was
well-suited
to
the
younger demographic of U-M
students.
“The first thing I really
like is the environment and
the backdrop,” Lin said. “I
think it’s more fitting to
our generation. We like to
Instagram a lot of our food
and (take) pictures around
them. (This) is the perfect
place to do that, everything’s
really eye-appealing.”
Hanley said the restaurant
is looking forward to creating
new job opportunities within
the local community.
“We’re big believers in
‘come as you are,’” Hanley
said. “Being able to give
opportunities to people to
(grow with the company)
and advance themselves …
Being able to employ a lot of
the local people is absolutely
amazing … We don’t have
a uniform, we want you to
come as you are.”
Daily Staff Reporter Irena
Li and Daily News Contributor
Serina Jiang can be reached
at irenayli@umich.edu and
sejiang@umich.edu.
IRENA LI &
SERINA JIANG
Daily Staff Reporter & Daily
News Contributor