The City of Rochester has launched the website for the Bicycle Master Plan currently being developed. It’s pretty limited right now, but more information will be added as the project progresses. Check it out!
Bike Master Plan website now up
The City of Rochester has launched the website for the Bicycle Master Plan currently being developed. It’s pretty limited right now, but more information will be added as the project progresses. Check it out!
A NYC view on our Upstate sprawl
A very interesting essay from a resident of NYC, who feels that they are paying the price for upstate sprawl:
-Bill Collins
A NYC view on our Upstate sprawl
A very interesting essay from a resident of NYC, who feels that they are paying the price for upstate sprawl:
-Bill Collins
Bike 4 Breakfast
Bike 4 Breakfast (a Bike Week event) took place on Sunday, May 23rd from 8:00am – 11:00am. The ride started at Eastern Mountain Sports in Pittsford Plaza and followed the Canal Path to the Genesee River Path in route to the South Wedge Diner (located in Rochester’s South Wedge neighborhood). The people, weather and ride were all great! The total number of riders that participated was 14. Great event – look forward to offering it again sometime this summer.
Thanks to Chintana for helping out.
Bike 4 Breakfast
Bike 4 Breakfast (a Bike Week event) took place on Sunday, May 23rd from 8:00am – 11:00am. The ride started at Eastern Mountain Sports in Pittsford Plaza and followed the Canal Path to the Genesee River Path in route to the South Wedge Diner (located in Rochester’s South Wedge neighborhood). The people, weather and ride were all great! The total number of riders that participated was 14. Great event – look forward to offering it again sometime this summer.
Thanks to Chintana for helping out.
Get that pothole filled!
For motorists, potholes are an annoyance, but they can be extremely dangerous for cyclists! If you encounter potholes in the City of Rochester, you can use this on-line form to report them to the City for repair:
In my experience, the City fills the pothole within a couple of days.
Get that pothole filled!
For motorists, potholes are an annoyance, but they can be extremely dangerous for cyclists! If you encounter potholes in the City of Rochester, you can use this on-line form to report them to the City for repair:
In my experience, the City fills the pothole within a couple of days.
Rochester Cycling Alliance / Bike Week Commuter Race just finished – cyclist won after a close race. Times will be updated later and possibly a video too! Thanks to everyone who helped out with the race. Great way to start out Bike Week. Don’t miss the Light-up the River Ride tonight at 9:00PM. Visit: www.rochestercyclingalliance.org for details.
Rochester Cycling Alliance / Bike Week Commuter Race just finished – cyclist won after a close race. Times will be updated later and possibly a video too! Thanks to everyone who helped out with the race. Great way to start out Bike Week. Don’t miss the Light-up the River Ride tonight at 9:00PM. Visit: www.rochestercyclingalliance.org for details.
Friday, May 21st – Commuter Race (First Bike Week Event)
Rochester’s Bike Week starts tomorrow! Tomorrow is also National Bike to Work Day – BIKE TO WORK! Come support the Bike Week Commuter Race at 7:00am (Bicyclists vs. car vs. bus). Race will begin at Starbucks (Corner of Winton and Monroe) at 7:00am and terminates in front of the museum on Monroe Ave (just before Manhattan Sq Pk).
Friday, May 21st – Commuter Race (First Bike Week Event)
Rochester’s Bike Week starts tomorrow! Tomorrow is also National Bike to Work Day – BIKE TO WORK! Come support the Bike Week Commuter Race at 7:00am (Bicyclists vs. car vs. bus). Race will begin at Starbucks (Corner of Winton and Monroe) at 7:00am and terminates in front of the museum on Monroe Ave (just before Manhattan Sq Pk).
One more bridge to cross, on foot or bike | 520 – An Environmental Blog | Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
Erie Lackawanna railroad bridge!
POSTED BY SORR • APRIL 29, 2010 • 11:14 AM
The city of Rochester is now soliciting proposals for design of a new walking-biking trail on a bridge over the Genesee River near the University of Rochester.
The 1,600-foot-long stretch of trail would use the old Erie-Lackawanna Railroad bridge that crosses the river from the Plymouth-Exchange neighborhood to the university’s River Campus. It would connect with the excellent trails, much used by runners, walkers and riders, already in place on each side of the Genesee.
If I have the count right, the Erie-Lackawanna span would be the city’s seventh bridge over the river reserved for pedestrians and bikers – a most impressive number, in my view, for a city this size.
Footbridge near Brooks Avenue
How many have you sampled? There’s a spectacular high bridge (built atop a sewer pipe actually) at Seneca Park, a walkway atop a dam at the little-known Middle Falls, the Pont du Rennes at High Falls, the Sister Cities span downtown, the existing footbridge at the UR near Brooks Avenue, and a lovely little crossing at Genesee Valley Park south of Elmwood Avenue
Most if not all are connected by trails, I believe. A bike-rider could cross them all in what? An hour? Somebody try it and let me know. Send me pics.
Back to Footbridge 7 at the UR. If all goes well, the city will hold public meetings this fall, design will be done over the winter, construction will start next spring and the repurposed bridge will open in October 2011. The project will cost about $1.2 million, with the city and New York state splitting the tab.
According to this detailed feasibility study done by Environmental Design and Research for the city and the Genesee Transportation Council two years ago, the bridge was built in the early 1900s, though earlier spans stood in that spot back to the 1850s. The rail line carried passenger and freight traffic between Rochester and Avon, Livingston County, with connections to points south. Erie-Lackawanna discontinued use of the line in 1971, a year before the rail company entered bankruptcy. The bridge has been unused since, except by occasional trespassers, and is now owned by the city.
The bridge as it is now (EDR feasibility study image)
When work is done, the bedraggled span will be transformed. It will have a new deck, be partly repainted, made ADA compliant and will sport ”amenities such as railing, lighting, benches, bike racks, and landscaping,” as the request for proposals put it.
The bridge as it may be (EDR feasibility study image)
Pretty nifty, eh? It should be a nice addition to the ever-growing network of trails in our region.
Oh, and if you’re not clear where these bridges are, here’s a home-made Google map, with the trails near the planned bridge marked as well. You’ll have to find the rest of the paths yourself. Enjoy!
View Rochester’s Genesee River footbridges in a larger map
Here is the project schedule from the Request for Proposals:
Project Schedule
Start Work June 2010
Site Reconnaissance & Survey June 2010 – July 2010
Draft Alternatives Prepared July 2010 – August 2010
Host Citizen Advisory Meetings August 2010 – October 2010
Finalize Alternatives September 2010 – October 2010
Host Public Meeting(s) August 2010 – October 2010
Preliminary Design of Selected Alternative October 2010 – November 2010
Final Design & Construction Documents December 2010 – January 2011
Bid Process/Issuance of Construction Contracts February 2011 – April 2011
Construction Phase May 2011
Open Bridge October 2011
Site Reconnaissance & Survey June 2010 – July 2010
Draft Alternatives Prepared July 2010 – August 2010
Host Citizen Advisory Meetings August 2010 – October 2010
Finalize Alternatives September 2010 – October 2010
Host Public Meeting(s) August 2010 – October 2010
Preliminary Design of Selected Alternative October 2010 – November 2010
Final Design & Construction Documents December 2010 – January 2011
Bid Process/Issuance of Construction Contracts February 2011 – April 2011
Construction Phase May 2011
Open Bridge October 2011
TELL YOUR FRIENDS!
ATTENTION all RCA members with a Facebook page! If you have been looking for a way to help and support the RCA and Bike Week, but have been too busy to make it to meetings, etc. you can help-out by letting your friends know about the event through Facebook or email.
If you have a Facebook page please cut and paste the following message into your status:
Rochester Bike Week is May 21st thru 28th. For a list of events visit: http://www.rochestercyclingalliance.org/
If you do not have facebook, but have an email account.. then simply send the above message to your friends via email.
Your help with messaging and getting the word out is crucial to the success of this event! What good is this event if no one knows about it! Also, frequent posts to your Facebook page over the next two weeks leading up to Bike Week will increase our messaging success!
SPREAD THE WORD! Thanks for your support…
Bike Week Committee
TELL YOUR FRIENDS!
ATTENTION all RCA members with a Facebook page! If you have been looking for a way to help and support the RCA and Bike Week, but have been too busy to make it to meetings, etc. you can help-out by letting your friends know about the event through Facebook or email.
If you have a Facebook page please cut and paste the following message into your status:
Rochester Bike Week is May 21st thru 28th. For a list of events visit: http://www.rochestercyclingalliance.org/
If you do not have facebook, but have an email account.. then simply send the above message to your friends via email.
Your help with messaging and getting the word out is crucial to the success of this event! What good is this event if no one knows about it! Also, frequent posts to your Facebook page over the next two weeks leading up to Bike Week will increase our messaging success!
SPREAD THE WORD! Thanks for your support…
Bike Week Committee
LAST Rochester Bike Week Volunteer Meeting
ATTN: All RCA Members and Volunteers…
We will be having the last volunteer meeting at Spot Coffee on Tuesday, May 11th from 7-8PM. At this meeting we will cover: upcoming confirmed events, distribute fliers to volunteer (for later distribution), discuss where fliers have been distributed thus far (bike shops, etc.), schedule volunteers for flier distribution at the Lilac Fest, determine the number of Bike Week shirts to purchase, and implement Social Media strategies and get our network of volunteers involved with spreading the word via FB, Twitter, Blogs, etc.
Please come to see how you can help support the event.
Thanks,
RCA Bike Week Committee
For more info. please email: info@rochestercyclingalliance.com