The problem isn’t that Rochester is failing to build bike infrastructure. It’s been building bike lanes steadily for almost 15 years. The problem is that our bike lanes don’t connect and that bike infrastructure outside the city is rare. We don’t have a network yet. No community on the planet grows ridership with scattered, disconnected bike lanes. Reconnect Rochester’s radical idea: Let’s connect what we’ve got.
Welcome to Reconnect Rochester’s fourth annual Mind the Gap campaign, wherein we ask you what the most important bike network gap is to fill. Each year, we go to the winning entity with evidence in hand that they’re in position for a huge win next time they do work on this segment of road.
Past winners include:
- Elmwood Ave, which got a road diet and bike lanes in 2023
- Empire Boulevard around Irondequoit Bay, which NYSDOT is currently doing a study for
- Culver Rd traversing 104, which County DOT is doing work on this year, but it appears their designs won’t fix the gap under 104 – we’ll keep advocating for it!
Without further ado, we present to you the nominees for the 2025 Mind the Gap award:
1. Main Street through downtown
Our audience knows well by now: Reconnect Rochester’s highest bike aspiration in the near term is for the City to attain a “minimum grid” of protected bikeways in and through downtown from all four directions. If Rochester does receive the federal SS4A funding for protected bike infrastructure on Chili Ave and East Main (between Union & Goodman), that only leaves downtown for the grid’s east-west axis! The stretch from Union Street to West Broad/490 is 1.5-miles and will require some serious political will.
Jurisdiction: City of Rochester
2. St Paul from downtown to Middle Falls (Brewer Street)
Via ROC The Riverway, the Genesee Riverway Trail is being extended gradually through downtown. There’s also a study underway this year to determine the best way to fill the Trail’s gap north of downtown to where it resumes at Middle Falls (Brewer Street). To us, the most straightforward way of filling the Trail’s gap would simply be installing protected bike lanes on St Paul Street. Our dream would be a two-way protected bike lane along the west side of St. Paul. Rochester’s never done this before but the time is ripe and this is the perfect location.
Note: an added benefit of two-way protected bike lanes like this is that a F-150 can fit in it for plowing. No special equipment needed!
Additional note: How awesome would it be for the two-way protected bike lane to go from the Skate Park all the way up to Lower Falls?
Jurisdiction: City of Rochester
3. Eastman Trail extension through Eastman Business Park
If you haven’t checked them out yet, ride the new(ish) Eastman Trail and extension for the 390 Trail along Ridgeway and Latona Roads respectively. There always was a phase 2 envisioned for the Eastman Trail through or alongside Eastman Business Park. If this gap was filled, residents would have a wonderful 17-mile-rectangle of trails to enjoy. We raised this gap to Eastman Business Park management earlier this year, and we’re still waiting to hear back.
Jurisdiction: City of Rochester/ Eastman Business Park
4. Irondequoit Bay Outlet
For five months of the year, motorists and cyclists can cross the Irondequoit Bay Outlet Bridge (IBOB). But the rest of the year (April 1st to October 31st), the bridge is taken away and road users have no choice but to veer around south. While motorists get to use 104, bike riders must go around the entire Bay and use Empire Blvd (our 2023 Mind the Gap winner). This voting campaign is about quicker, cheaper solutions and a bike/ped bridge is a heavy lift (this one in Alabama came in at $24 million). But there are cheaper solutions in the meantime. How about a bike/ped ferry? Other creative options below for fun. 😋
Jurisdiction: Monroe County and the United States Coast Guard
5. Connecting Buckland Park to Senator Keating Blvd
Brighton residents understandably want easy bike access to the Erie Canal. 590, of course, stands in the way. Great Bike Boulevards and the Brickyard Trail get riders to Westfall and Buckland Park. Riding on Westfall could be avoided if there was access, if only for cyclists & pedestrians, to Buckland Park from Senator Keating Boulevard, which is very low traffic. It’s just a short hop on South Clinton (use the sidewalk if you want) to the Canal.
Jurisdiction: Town of Brighton
6. Lehigh Valley Trail north branch
We are big fans of the Lehigh Valley Trail’s north branch. It’s a bicycle superhighway between U of R and RIT. Once past Jefferson Rd in Henrietta, there is a nice “side path” alongside John Street that protects you from traffic all the way down to Bailey Road. Once there, on-street traffic negotiating is required along Bailey, West Henrietta Road (yikes!), and Calkins until the trail resumes. Though manageable by bolder, more experienced cyclists, this 2.4-mile stretch of road riding should be made as comfortable as possible.
Jurisdiction: NYSDOT (W Henrietta Rd) and Monroe County DOT (Bailey and Calkins)
7. Lee Road connecting Erie Canal Trail to 390 Trail
Rochester’s west side is bereft of comfortable biking connections. It’s crucial that the 390 Trail and Erie Canal Trail be connected. A great start was made in 2022 with the new 390 Trail extension and Eastman Trail. Unfortunately, a NYSDOT project to construct a trail along Lee Rd from Ridgeway Ave to Trolley Blvd fell through. In the not too distant future, hopefully County DOT can give Lee Road a road diet and protect cyclists from that intimidating semi truck traffic. This stretch is 1.4 miles.
Jurisdiction: Monroe County DOT
8. South Clinton
In the City, South Clinton has one travel lane & a shoulder in each direction – a tight squeeze for cyclists with all the parked cars. But once you get into Brighton, the roadway expands. Each direction gets two lanes for motor vehicles and the shoulders are very skinny, quite unusable for cyclists. The wide road and travel lanes just invite speeding. In 2027, County DOT is resurfacing South Clinton from the city line down to Westfall, which offers the opportunity to reallocate road space. How about a road diet, or as we like to call it, a Road Buffet, since it gives residents more options? This stretch is 1.5 miles.
Jurisdiction: Monroe County DOT
9. Scio from downtown up to the Public Market
The Union Street cycle track, which was part of the Inner Loop East project, ends abruptly and awkwardly at University. Many folks want the cycle track to extend on Union north of Main Street to the Public Market. We’d love to see that too! The problem is that Union Street is quite skinny north of Main. The houses are positioned quite close to the road and there are beautiful front yard gardens that would disappear to make way for bicycle facilities. Scio, however, is more realistic. How about protected bike lanes on Scio from downtown to the Public Market trail?
10. Chili Ave from Westfield to Hinchey
The 19th Ward has a great network of traffic-calmed Bike Boulevards. But the farthest west those will take you is Westfield Street. At that point, cyclists have no choice but to use Chili Ave going further west into Gates and Chili. Hinchey Road, which is quite bikeable and can get you to Tinseltown, Home Depot and Tops, is only a half-mile away from Westfield. But this half-mile stretch isn’t friendly for riders of all ages and abilities. Eastbound, towards the City, it’s not bad for many folks. But westbound, navigating the turn-off and exit for 390 is uncomfortable. This gateway could be much more pleasant.
