Tuesday, February 15th, 2011
A potential threat to the preservation of rights-of-way for a light rail line between downtown Rochester and the University of Rochester is the City of Rochester’s plan to convert the bridge into a bike/ped-only bridge.
It’s important to note that creation of the bike/pedestrian link itself will not preclude transit; on the other hand it is important that the project be treated as a rails-with-trails project rather than a rails-to-trails conversion. This will ensure preservation of the right-of-way for possible future transit.
A rails-to-trails conversion will make a later conversion to rail transit difficult, whereas a rails-with-trails project specifies that an adequate dedicated right-of-way (strip of land) be specifically preserved for future rail transit use.
Please attend an open-house
public meeting this Wednesday:
Time: February 16, 2011 from 7pm to 9pm
Location: Phillis Wheatley Community Library
33 Dr. Samuel McCree Way
For more information, contact Holly Barrett (428-6384) or barretth@cityofrochester.gov
Tags: Erie Lackawanna Bridge, Erie Railroad, public input, public meeting, rails to trails, Rochester, University of Rochester
Posted in Events + Meetings, Things You Can Do To Help | No Comments »
Monday, March 8th, 2010
The following article was published at RochesterSubway.com on 2010/02/16. Two weeks later 6 citizens got together and Reconnect Rocheseter was born.
America seems to have taken a renewed interest in mobility. Maybe due to President Obama’s recent commitment to high speed rail—or perhaps the positive results seen in towns like Portland and Denver have caught our collective attention. Whatever the reason, from the top down, people are rethinking our automobile-oriented culture—and getting excited about the possibilities.
There’s also good reason to focus on transportation as a way of jump-starting economic development. Industry requires access to people. And people need to have easy access to centers of employment. Continually improving access makes further development possible. Interrupting access will have the opposite effect. Likewise, doing nothing or simply maintaining existing infrastructure for an extended period of time will also hinder development.
For 30+ years Rochester has relied on the infrastructure choices it made in the 1950’s, 60’s, and 70’s. At that time we made development choices that encouraged our population to emigrate from the downtown core. We scrapped our extensive streetcar system, choked off downtown with the construction of the inner-loop, and paved super highways to take us from the city to the NY State Thruway and beyond. Since then that’s exactly where our money, our workforce, and our future have gone—down I-490 and out of state.
(more…)
Tags: 19th Ward neighborhood, Amtrak, B&L, bus, bus routes, Cornhill neighborhood, Denver, downtown Rochester, Eastman Theater, Fast Ferry, Federal Transit Administration (FTA), Greater Rochester International Airport, GRI Airport, hub-and-spoke system, infrastructure, Kenosha, Kodak Theater, light rail transit, light-rail, Main Street, Main Street Four Corners, Mark Aesch, mass transit, Midtown Plaza, Monroe County Civic Center, New York, Paetec, Park Ave neighborhood, Portland, public transportation, rail transit, Regional Transit Service (RTS), Riverside Convention Center, Rochester, Rochester Amtrak Station, Rochester Art Gallery, Rochester Genesee Regional Transportation Authority (RGRTA), Rochester Museums, Rochester NY, Rochester Regional Community Design Center, RRCDC, RTS, SAFETEA-LU, Seattle, Small Starts program, streetcar, streetcars, Tampa, transportation, trolley, U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT), University of Rochester, urban planning, urban renewal, urban revitalization, War Memorial Arena, Xerox
Posted in Background Stories, News | 2 Comments »
