The stretch of East Avenue between the Brighton town line and the Village of Pittsford is thick with houses. St. John Fisher and Nazareth colleges are within the corridor, too, which is located in the Town of Pittsford.
And it’s common to see people walking or jogging in that area of East. But since no sidewalks run alongside the road, people have to use the shoulder or the grass.
Pittsford officials are trying to change that. Town engineers and planners say they want to install a sidewalk on the west side of East Avenue; it’d start at the Brighton town line and continue until it meets an existing sidewalk at the Village of Pittsford line.
Many residents who live within the corridor have been asking for sidewalks for some time, says Pittsford Supervisor Bill Smith. And he says the idea makes sense. It’d connect the neighborhoods, colleges, and village, Smith says, and make that part of town more walkable. There’s a safety consideration, too, he says, since cars often drive much faster than the street’s 40 mph speed limit.
Officials picked the west side of the road, Smith says, because of trees and other topographical challenges on the east side.
The town plans to install the sidewalk next summer, he says. But since East Avenue is a state route, approval is needed from the State Department of Transportation. Town officials have submitted the plans, Smith says.
St. John Fisher College is developing a related project, Smith says. The college wants a sidewalk at the edge of its campus along East Avenue and Fairport Road, he says. And Fisher officials may ask the state to reconfigure the lanes on that stretch of road, he says, to calm traffic.
This article appears in Aug 13-19, 2014.
This is pretty simple. Do what they did on East Ave in the city, make it 2 lanes, add room for bikes and a sidewalk. Right now it’s a pretty narrow road for 2 lanes and zero room for walkers or bikers.