For close to a decade, the City of Rochester has methodically worked to become more bike friendly. Officials have tried to incorporate bike lanes and cycle tracks into road resurfacing and reconstruction projects whenever possible. They designed a series of alternate routes that cyclists can take instead of car-packed main roads. They launched a bike-share program. And they’ve tried to make sure that people have a place to lock up or securely store their bikes when they get to their destination.
That work will continue this year. Construction is set to begin on several key projects, and design work will start on other important bike infrastructure, including some trail work and connections that will be part of Roc the Riverway.
“This is all about getting to a low-stress bike network in the city,” says Erik Frisch, a transportation specialist for the city.
After several delays, construction will begin this year on the Elmwood Avenue-Collegetown cycle track, Frisch says. The two-way track is a dedicated passageway for cyclists – neither pedestrians nor cars can use it – and it’ll lie directly alongside the three-quarter mile stretch of Elmwood between Wilson Boulevard and Mt. Hope Avenue. The project was supposed to be Rochester’s first cycle track, but the one built along Union Street and Howell Street as part of the Inner Loop East fill-in is already finished.
The city has several resurfacing projects that will include the addition of bike lanes: Beach Avenue in Charlotte, Dewey Avenue north of Ridge Road, Alexander Street, and Scio Street. The state is resurfacing Mt. Read Boulevard between Lyell Avenue and Buffalo Road, and bike lanes will be added there as well, Frisch says.
A project along the Genesee River’s west wall near Corn Hill will start this year; when construction is completed in 2020, cyclists will have a better connection between Corn Hill and Ford Street, Frisch says.
The city will also begin construction on 10 miles of bicycle boulevards; each route was identified as a priority in a previous city plan. The bike boulevards are meant to serve as alternate routes that run parallel to busy streets that can be difficult for cyclists to use. Wayfinding signs direct cyclists through the route, and pavement markings and traffic-calming measures are installed to keep drivers’ awareness up and their speed down.
The bike boulevard projects will occur in every quadrant of the city, Frisch says. One boulevard in the northwest part of the city will center around North Plymouth Avenue and Fulton Avenue. In the southeast, the city will work on a boulevard that uses Averill Avenue. Also on the east side, the city will work on a bike boulevard along Garson Avenue.
City planners will also be designing more bike boulevard projects for construction next year.
“We’ll be way ahead of schedule in building out the whole bike boulevard network,” Frisch says.
Town of Brighton officials are working with the city on the Highland Crossing Trail project, and the town is taking the lead on construction. The trail will start in Brighton Town Park off of Westfall Road and will end at McLean Street, off of Mt. Hope Avenue near Mt. Hope Cemetery. Construction on that trail, which will link the Erie Canal trail in Brighton with the Genesee Riverway Trail in Rochester, will start this year.
City planners will be working on designs for several other trail projects this year. They’ll finish up designs for the first phase of the Eastman Trail, which will connect the Route 390 trail at the border with Greece to Mt. Read Boulevard. The trail will ultimately connect with the Genesee Riverway Trail after future phases.
Staff will also work on designs for the Brewery Line Trail along the rim of the Genesee River gorge at High Falls Terrace Park.
And the city will finish construction of the Erie Harbor promenade, which connects to Court Street near Dinosaur Bar-B-Que. The promenade is part of the city’s Roc the Riverway project, which is meant better tie in downtown to the Genesee River.
Roc the Riverway also includes plans to redevelop Broad Street by removing the deck above the Erie Canal aqueduct and closing the area to traffic. The project will create a pedestrian-oriented area, but it will also create a hub for multi-use trails coming in from different directions, including the Genesee Riverway Trail. That central connection will provide cyclists with easier access to downtown and other parts of the city, Frisch says.
“It really brings everything together,” Frisch says.
This article has been corrected.
This article appears in Jan 16-22, 2019.
I LIVE NEAR THE UNION STREET AREA AND THIS SEEMS QUITE POINTLESS I SEE PEOPLE WALKING ON THESE RATHER THAN THE SIDEWALKS AND PEOPLE BIKING IN THE ROADS RATHER THAN THESE….SO PLEASE TELL ME WHY OUR TAX DOLLARS SHOULD GO TO THIS ???
Looks like the cycle track is pretty short – two blocks, between Wilson Blvd and Mt Hope. It’d be great if the city could at least continue it to Goodman St (and in some future utopia, Brighton could continue it to 12 Corners).
But at least cyclists will be able to go under that bridge (Intercampus Dr) without getting hit.
http://www.cityofrochester.gov/elmwoodcycl…
Both I and a neighbor of mine use it most every day. Neither of us live in the area – we work downtown and use it on our commutes.
Huzzah!
The Union Street bike track has been an absolute dream to ride on, and it’s an important part of my commute to different parts of the city from home. I’m glad to see that another one is going in on Elmwood (even if it is short) – like Adrian says, it will be handy navigating that tricky section under the bridge.
I’m hoping that my bicycle can become my main mode of transport once spring arrives, and I’m deeply obliged to the city for every little bit that makes that more doable. I’m glad my tax dollars are going to such useful initiatives.
Now if only they could put that money and effort nto developing our schools and getting a B.O.E. that gave a crap, maybe we wouldn’t rank 265th in the dang state. who gives a crap about bicycles when our kids can’t even read at graduation?????
Occasionally, cycling-specific infrastructure encourages cyclists to flout the normal rules of the road, introduced in the early twentieth century so that all travelers move safely in concert with one another.
An example is the facility shown in this weeks photo illustrating Jeremy Moules article.
The photo shows a lane that has cyclists riding against traffic, which, by itself, is a behavior generating many, many fatal collisions.
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The article states that the cycle track will create a totally, car-free space, but thats only possible, when there are no intersections and no driveways.
Motorists will enter the cycle track. Pedestrians will, too.
Biking against traffic is dangerous, but that’s not that’s shown in the photo accompanying this article. The photo shows a cycle track. Cycle tracks are physically separated from car traffic by curbs and trees, and divided in the middle so bicycle traffic in both directions is on the same track, whichever side of the street the track happens to be on.
We’re fortunate in that we don’t need to speculate about the potential effects of a track like the one in the picture – the city already has one, along the former Southern Loop.
If cycling-specific infrastructure like this really did generate many, many fatal collisions, we would all know about it.
Nor do we need to speculate as to whether motorists or pedestrians will enter the cycle track. On Union St., we already know: motorists generally don’t, and pedestrians often do.
I’ll admit that when I’m on my bike I get a little frustrated by walkers in the cycle track. However, the ones I’ve met generally move to the sidewalk when they see or hear a bike and/or its rider, and everyone proceeds without incident.
We can also consider the alternative – would anyone be safer without cycling paths? The adult biker would need to ride in the road – unpleasant for cars and bikes, and particularly unsafe for bikers – or on the sidewalk – unpleasant/unsafe for both walkers and riders.
Unless, of course, we eliminated all bike-riding. I feel like that might be the subtext here, deliberately or not.
That would be a shame, because:
– bicycling provides exercise, transportation, and recreation for its users
– more people on bikes = fewer people in cars fighting for parking spaces. More parking for motorists!
– more people on bike paths like this one = fewer people on the road/in cars = better traffic for motorists!
Better cycling infrastructure can make life better for everyone, even folks who would never get on a bike themselves.
Quoting myself …cyclists riding against traffic, which, by itself, is a behavior generating many, many fatal collisions.
(About 30 cyclists per year in the US, so many, many might have overstated it. Sorry.)