Royal Oak OKs Non-Motorized Transportation Plan

The City Commission on Monday moved to make Royal Oak a safer city in which walking and biking are incorporated into the city's transportation plans.

Commissioners approved the Planning Commission’s recommendation to amend Royal Oak’s Master Plan to incorporate three new sections: , the Woodward Avenue Transit-Oriented Development Corridor Study and the .

Mayor Jim Ellison, who is also a member of the Planning Commission, said the goal is to incorporate three elements: a walkable community aspect, a transient-oriented aspect and Rochester Road access.

“We have separate studies on all three of those items and we incorporated the vast majority of language in those,” Ellison said.

The Non-Motorized Transportation Plan received support from residents during the public comment period at Monday's City Commission meeting. The plan is composed of recommendations for infrastructure improvements, policies and programs that are intended to make it safer and more convenient to walk, bike and use transit in Royal Oak.

“The consultant you hired to come up with the recommendations did a fantastic job. They are very competent,” said longtime cyclist Tom Regan of Royal Oak. “The Planning Commission did a great job vetting it and city staff did a remarkable job. It’s a solid set of recommendations.”

Matthew Faraday, a Royal Oak resident who is part of the Green Team, said he is very encouraged by the new Master Plan. “At Beaumont, I have had a couple of higher-end management comment on how exciting it is what Royal Oak with the non-motorized transportation plan.”

It’s an exciting time to be a bicyclist or a pedestrian in Royal Oak, Regan said.

More on Royal Oak's non-motorized transportation plans here, starting on page 103.

What is the next step?

Now that the non-motorized plan has been adopted does that mean the city will be repainting the road markings tomorrow? The answer is no.

As the city gets into areas where there is roadwork to be done on one of the streets designated for a road diet or bike lane, it will be incorporated into the construction, Ellison said.

“Somewhere down the line, if there is funding to do this, we can certainly incorporate that,” the mayor said. “But we are not going out tomorrow and incorporate the entire process. It’s going to be a staged plan. It’s just not economically feasible to do everything right now."

Local bike ride celebration

In the meantime, a group of bicyclists is not going to wait long to celebrate the passing of the non-motorized plan. Members of the community are invited to participate in a local bike ride on May 24, Regan said.

“If anyone wants to join in they can meet us at ,” Regan said. “We’re going to gather between 5 and 6 p.m. and head out from there. We’ll be celebrating the passing of the non-motorized plan.”