A mural on the Dequindre Cut, across from the Freightyard. That’s me in the lower right, for scale.
So nice that the Detroit Riverfront Conservancy has put some money and effort into a bit of infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists. The Dequindre Cut, while short (Mack to the river front), is a perfect example of “If you build it, they will come.”. Two opposing bike lanes and a wide pedestrian lane, paved. Commissioned murals on the underpasses. No automobiles.
The River Walk deserves the praise it gets. While I wouldn’t necessarily advise cycling it near Hart Plaza late afternoon on the weekend (it gets busy), the east end is less busy and the whole thing was easy to navigate around noon on Saturday.
We started near Hart Plaza. Here’s a shot of The Spirit of Detroit with the RenCen in the background.
And us fools.
We cycled to the south/west end of the River Walk first. We then turned around and rode the whole River Walk.
Here’s my friend Andy near Talon Centre around 1:30PM.
And a shot of Talon Centre from the River Walk.
Belle Isle isn’t what it was when I was a child 50 years ago, but it has improved. There were plenty of people enjoying food and drinks, from small parties to larger parties. Andy and I went there to eat the picnic lunch I packed. There’s no pass required if you’re on a bicycle or on foot, In fact as you come across the Grand Blvd bridge to the island, you’re routed right into the park instead of through the vehicle tollway. The sidewalk on the bridge is protected with concrete/steel barriers, and is very wide (no issues passing other cyclists or pedestrians).
Here’s a shot of Andy and I on the bridge to Belle Isle.
And a shot of the river from the same spot.
Once on Belle Isle, a view from the picnic table where we had lunch.
The park needs a new sign, but at least it’s still standing.
Here I am at the fountain.
In total we rode about 16 miles. And other than a short bit of downtown to/from the parking tower, we didn’t have to negotiate with ANY vehicles to ride all of the River Walk, all of Dequindre Cut and Belle Isle. We didn’t do it on Saturday, but of course you can ride all of Belle Isle on the bike lanes and paths. The Bike lanes are generous, and Belle Isle would be the place to ride at a higher pace.
This was an awesome cycling day. I didn’t get much exercise despite the 16 miles, but that wasn’t the point. This was a leisure ride and I had a blast!
I squeezed in a 9 mile workout ride in the evening, so I wound up with about 25 miles for the day. Not a season record, but not bad!