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Old Posted Apr 22, 2017, 5:33 PM
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somewhere in-between
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: The Zoo, Michigan
Posts: 3,498
How Bicycle Friendly are Kalamazoo and Portage?

There is a strong bicycling culture in both cities, supported by groups like the Kalamazoo Bicycle Club and Bike Friendly Kalamazoo. Portage currently has a Bronze Rating for Bicycle Friendliness (as determined by the League of American Bicyclists). Kalamazoo is not currently ranked, but the city applied to the program for the first time in March, and we will find out in May if it is granted the Bronze award (the lowest of the five levels of bike-friendliness), or better.

Portage currently shares the Bronze status with six other Michigan communities, including Flint, Grand Rapids, Lansing, East Lansing, Battle Creek, and Midland. Three more Michigan communities have attained Silver, the next highest ranking (Ann Arbor, Houghton, and Marquette). No communities in the state have attained gold, platinum, or the most difficult to achieve - diamond ranking. Portage is consciously making a push for silver or gold this year. Michigan is currently ranked 18th among all states for bike-friendliness (again, according to the League of American Bicyclists).


Image Source: Bike League


Image Source: Bike League

This is a tale of two cities - I think Portage has it easier in general, because things are more spread-out / suburban, and the city has a strong framework from which to continue expansion of its bike network, in the form of the Portage Bicentennial Creek Trail (PBCT). Portage currently has more than 55 miles of bikeways, including dedicated trails and bike lanes. The below map is from 2013, and much more has already happened since this was created, like the opening of the Eliason Nature Preserve trail, which extends the bikeway south to Osterhout Avenue.


Image Source: Discover Kalamazoo

But Kalamazoo has made great strides in recent years. The Kalamazoo Valley River Trail (KVRT) runs east/west through downtown, and the final piece of the downtown link is scheduled to be completed this year. The KVRT connects up with the Kal-Haven Trail to the west (which leads all the way to South Haven / Lake Michigan) and there are plans to connect it to the Battle Creek Linear Park going east. The KVRT will encompass 35 miles of trail throughout Kalamazoo County once completed, and will connect up with 140+ miles of other trails.

Here's a somewhat-current map of the KVRT, with connections (from 2015):


Image Source: Kal County

And here's a regional trail map (from 2016) showing just how extensive the network of trails in southwest Michigan is getting. Lake Michigan is on the far left of the map:


Image Source: Kal County

A future development map shows the planned connections of the KVRT through downtown and to the east, toward Battle Creek:


Image Source: Kal County

There are also plans to connect the KVRT to the Portage Bikeway / Portage Creek Bicentennial Trail, to the south:


Image Source: Bike Friendly Kalamazoo

So how Bicycle Friendly are Kalamazoo and Portage? I'd say both cities have a long way to go, but some firm foundations have been laid. Portage has an edge on Kalamazoo right now, but both cities are making conscious efforts to promote bike friendliness and establish more links in the bike network. The recent death of five bicyclists last summer, when the driver of a pickup truck crashed into a group of 9 bicyclists, is still a fresh memory for many locals. That driver was allegedly on drugs, but it reinforced the message of advocacy groups, which continue to promote laws that better protect bicyclists, as well as push for safer bike routes, especially in the downtown area.

Below is a link to a recent article in Second Wave Media by Mark Wedel on the topic of bike-friendliness in Kalamazoo, which is what gave me the idea to write a post about it here.

How bike friendly is Kalamazoo, anyway?
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