I was disappointed to learn at last month’s Kalamazoo County Parks Commission Meeting that the ‘parking committee’ of Downtown Kalamazoo rejected proposed routes for a downtown Kalamazoo walking/running/biking trail. It seems DKI cited potential lost revenue of up to $10,000 from up to 26 parking spots that would be lost. It should also be mentioned that DKI would not have to pay for design, construction, or maintenance of the trail, they just have to say yes.

Is Kalamazoo limiting it’s potential by focusing nearly all of it’s infrastructure resources on roads for vehicles?

Do you think the benefits of Kalamazoo’s first urban downtown trail outweigh the costs of losing up to 26 parking spaces? The lost parking spots, by the way, would mostly be metered spots along Water Street. Ironically, DKI just last year proudly heralded the repaving of the enormous parking lot that’s also on Water St. Do we need both this giant parking lot AND every metered spot on Water St?

Does it seem to anyone else like some members of our community are obsessed with parking? Who get’s excited about a new parking lot, seriously?

DKI also mentions in their letter bike sharrows as an alternative to a downtown trail. Bike sharrows are like bike lanes, only slightly less safe. Bike sharrows are great (honestly), and should be built in our community where appropriate. You’d think if DKI (or the City of Kalamazoo for that matter) loved bike sharrows so much they would have, you know, built more than zero of them thus far. Bike sharrows are not really for walking/running at all, and I would venture to guess that most families and amateur riders would not feel comfortable riding in a bike sharrow on a busy road. From my perspective, DKI and city leaders citing bike sharrows as an alternative to urban trails are missing the mark big time. It’s not a question of bike sharrows OR urban trails, the only question is how we get more of both.

(On a side note, how is it possible that the parking committee at DKI has more power than the citizens, elected officials, funders and downtown businesses in our community who all seem overwhelmingly in favor of building a downtown trail? Is DKI a democratically controlled institution, and if not, whose interests does this public entity that is funded with public tax monies represent? By the way, the DKI “parking committee” meets *you guessed it* in a closed door meeting that is not open to the public.)

I think it’s great that the City of Kalamazoo has suddenly embraced bike sharrows. Sharrows are a great step in the right direction, although probably less safe than protected bike lanes. Sharrows are literally the least we can do. In 2010 at a public meeting a City of Kalamazoo Community Planner cited to me that per community planning policy ALL Kalamazoo roads that received any type of significant improvement from that point forward would be converted to include bike lanes. That obviously was not the case (and was very far from the truth) and it now appears that it was only through active citizen pressure that sharrows were proposed at the Oakland and Parkview intersection as a compromise. In 2011 a DKI staff member cited to me that DKI was fully supportive of downtown trails and only the City of Kalamazoo’s aversion to trails was holding the community back.

When community leaders don’t want to make something a priority, they can always find reasons and risks to cite to justify their lack of action. There are millions of reasons why we “can't” build a trail, and until we put biking and walking in the same ballpark as driving our leaders will always be able to hide behind their justifications for why it’s not possible.

NOT enough room on the road is their favorite reason NOT safe is commonly cited, even though trails improve safety for everyone, especially those not in cars NOT enough parking to make bike lanes happen (this one is just confusing since great trails should ease parking issues in crowded areas)

The excuses are easy when you're looking to find ways to say no. The big problem for the leaders hiding behind “no” is that it is possible.

Trails connect our community!

A downtown trail is not only feasible in our community, it’s mandatory if we want a sustainable, place-based urban downtown that attracts talented people. An urban trail will give a much needed boost to the economic development of our downtown and improve sustainability. If you want further proof, backed up by significant data and multiple case studies from other downtown’s, see this .pdf report.

A rough draft of what a connected downtown trail route might look like (in blue)

Do you know anyone at DKI? Do you know anyone on the parking committee at DKI? If so, it seems long overdue that we take matters into our own hands and openly lobby these community members to make downtown trails a priority. We have the skills, funding and community will to make not only our FIRST downtown trail a reality, but many many more trails thereafter. All we need now is the very serious powerful people to stop figuring out ways to say no, and just say yes.

I remember when I moved to Kalamazoo in 2001, one of my first memories on campus at WMU was a graduate student presentation on a proposed bike trail that would connect downtown Kalamazoo and WMU. The proposal was quite advanced and it included architectural renderings, cost estimates and a feasibility study. I remember being shocked at the time that such a trail didn't already exist! Wouldn't a bike trail make it much easier for the tens of thousands of WMU students to access and explore downtown? It’s 13 years later, and such a trail still doesn't exist.

It seems increasingly clear that the only way we're going to get the leadership in our community to make this a priority (and there is no doubt, they have utterly failed to make biking infrastructure a priority) is to hold them accountable. There’s a reason for our failures over the past generation and if folks want to oppose improvements to biking and walking infrastructure, that’s their prerogative, but they no longer have the right to make their views on this issue private if they're a powerful community leader.

It’s also important to remember that we hold our community leaders accountable out of a place of love. The concept of being a ‘critical lover’ is one taught in anti-racism training by local group ERAC/cE and I think it’s helpful to apply here. Downtown Kalamazoo is amazing! It’s because of the tremendous growth and potential in downtown Kalamazoo that we must make these changes in our infrastructure. The ways of the past weigh on us heavier than we can imagine even with the trail to our future staring us in the face.

Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised that the community leaders who have failed to invest in bike infrastructure for the past 3 decades are still hesitant today even in the face of overwhelming community support. Perhaps it’s time for some new leadership in our community to step forward to slowly pull us from our car-dominated mentality. I hope our new City Manager can breathe life and innovation into our risk-adverse city government. I hope our new community foundation CEO can invest in those institutions who are demanding a sustainable Kalamazoo and hold accountable those that are holding us back. And let be really really clear here, when it comes to building a sustainable community, there are those in our community who seek to hold us back.

We increasingly desire a place-based downtown that is friendly to families and young people. We know that pedestrian deaths in urban areas are rising. The case seems clear: trail systems make our downtown safer, greener and more prosperous.

Trails are not new to Kalamazoo County. The Kalamazoo River Valley Trail has successfully built nearly 20 miles of trails in our county. They've also successfully raised millions of dollars to build and maintain these trails. Usage of trails in our county is surging. In 2013 over 180,000 uses were recorded, an increase from 150,000 uses in 2012. Imagine how much trail usage might increase if two segments of trails didn't dead-end on respective sides of our downtown! We currently have expert trail builders from the KRVT willing to fund and build the downtown connector.

Hopefully a downtown connection will be the first of many urban trails in Kalamazoo. We need a trail that connects downtown to WMU. We need a trail that connects to Kalamazoo Farmers’ Market. We needs trails that connect to each and every one of our core urban neighborhoods. We need bike lanes and bike sharrows on every road possible in between.

It is possible to build a world-class trail system in downtown Kalamazoo. The KRVT is proposing to build one, which they’ll even pay for. While it’s fair if DKI wants to put parking over place-making, their view stands in stark contrast to the changes many in our community are demanding. It also seems fair to point out that in many respects, the cash-strapped DKI should feel extremely blessed that another group wants to pay for and build an amazing new feature in their downtown. This trail will bring more people to our downtown, and perhaps best yet for DKI, trail users won’t need a traditional parking spot in downtown.

We can build urban trails in downtown Kalamazoo. We must build urban trails in downtown Kalamazoo. We will build urban trails in downtown Kalamazoo. So why aren't we yet?