Everyone sing:
"I want to ride my bicycle.
I want to ride my bike.
I want to ride my bicycle.
I want to ride it where I like."
Though cycling is about to become easier in Ypsilanti, Freddie Mercury might have a tough time figuring out a rhyme for the city's name (If he were alive).
The Ypsi City Council approved adding seven blocks of bike lanes along West Forest Avenue between College Place and Norris Street.
A Michigan Department of Transportation grant is paying for most of the $80,000 project while the city forks up (pun intended) $16,000 of the tab. The city will widen the road at certain points to accommodate bike lanes on both sides. The stripping is expected to be done this spring
Although Ypsilanti doesn’t have a specific non-motorized transportation plan, like Ann Arbor, it does try to add in bike lanes and paths where possible when roads are being rebuilt or resurfaced. The city has already installed several miles of bike lanes over the last few years, enough to allow bicyclists to cross the city on paths made especially for them.
Source: Karen Hart, community development director for Ypsilanti and Bill Bohlen, department of public works director for Ypsilanti
Writer: Jon Zemke