February 23, 2012
Richard W. Lee, P.E.
Acting Director, Office of Design
NYS Department of Transportation
Albany, NY 12232
Dear Mr. Lee,
We are in receipt of your letter dated January 27, 2012 by which the Department solicits input from the New York Bicycling Coalition (NYBC) regarding a draft shoulder rumble strip policy. We welcome the opportunity to illustrate some of the policy’s negative impacts upon bicycling. NYBC is New York’s statewide bicycle advocacy organization, representing bicyclists of all abilities and types. Members of our staff and board have significant experience in transportation design, planning and administration. Our recommendations, therefore, are deeply informed by input from hundreds of bicyclists as well as a strong base of technical knowledge.
NYBC understands and appreciates the potential of rumble strips to protect motorists from drift off the road crashes. We recognize that the benefit to cost ratio provided by rumble strips on given roadways varies significantly according to a number of factors, including road geometry, speed and traffic volume. We support targeted installation of rumble strips on roads that would benefit the most from their use. Indiscriminate, wholesale installation of rumble strips, however, would provide significantly reduced return-on-investment and result in a serious reduction in safety, comfort and mobility for bicyclists.
Attached is a December 2009 NYBC report which 1) describes the effects of rumble strips upon bicyclists and 2) compares the Department’s 2009 draft policy against policies in other states and guiding documents. The Report made many recommendations for changes to that policy. It is disappointing, therefore, to observe that the current draft policy does not appear to incorporate the recommendations provided by the bicycling community in 2009. We urge the Department to seriously consider the report’s recommendations, re-stated below, in the continued formation of a rumble strip policy.
NYBC Recommends the following text and/or concepts be included in a revised rumble strip (or SHARDS) policy;
see the balance of the letter and the December 2009 New York Bicycle Coalition Report at http://www.nybc.net/rumble-strips.
An Opportunity to Make Wegmans Rochester's Top Bicycle Friendly Business
An Opportunity to Make Wegmans Rochester’s Top Bicycle Friendly Business
In 2013 there will be a new Wegmans East Avenue Store. This is a great opportunity to encourage Wegmans to become a more bicycle friendly business.
Wegmans is taking comments and is open to suggestions. Please send the following three recommendations and your suggestions to Wegmans.
The best way to send suggested ideas is through the Consumer Affairs Dept. The department will record your ideas and forward them to the appropriate people. If you want to call the phone number is 328-2550 or via the web site, www.wegmans.com.
There are a few critical things that Wegmans can do to create a bicycle friendly environment:
1. Have ample and secured bicycle parking for employees and customers.
2. Have a unisex bathroom shower facility for employees who wish to clean up, change or shower prior to work, and provide lockers to store cloths.
3. Many progressive businesses are now giving small financial incentives for employees who bicycle and walk to work. This makes for healthier and happier employees.
Thank you,
Scott
Let NYSDOT know what YOU Think about the Access 390 project that could connect UR, RIT, and MCC with the City!
The Rochester Cycling Alliance relocated its January meeting to the site of a Public Hearing on a proposed $65 million Access390 project. We learned a lot, and we’re urging our members to weigh in.
This is one member’s public comment.
NYSDOT needs to hear from each of us!
An Active Transportation Network
for the Rochester Multiversity.
Jon Schull, co-founder Rochester Cycling Alliance
With small modifications, a proposed “Access 390” highway project could bind Rochester’s three major universities with several multi-use trails and bikeways, and move us toward a future that is more ecological, economical, healthful, and energy-independent. It could really happen…but we have to ask for it! The New York State Department of Transportation’s (NYSDOT) is accepting written comments from the public until January 31 (see below), and NYSDOT officials at the meeting seemed genuinely receptive to constructive suggestions backed up by citizen support.
This is a big opportunity!
Here’s what we need to keep in mind. New York State is preparing to spend $65 million on highway interchanges for US 390 between Monroe Community College (MCC) and the University of Rochester (UR). UR may spend an additional $140 million on parking garages. Pretty soon, you’re talking real money; on cars, ramps, and parking. Let’s think carefully about this.
At a well-attended public hearing this week, NYSDOT indicated the project would have litte impact on the environment, and on bicycle and pedestrian transportation. But we can do much better than that, for mere pennies on the dollar. And given the benefits– transportation alternatives, parking mitigation, less dependence on foreign oil, less climate change, and addressing the “bright flight” of young people from our community–it would be irresponsible not to do more.
Here’s the opportunity. (see map or video)
View GreenRoute.kmz in a larger map
MCC and the University of Rochester are connected (almost!) via the historic Erie Canalway. RIT and University of Rochester are connected (almost!) via the Lehigh Valley North Trail (LVNT). And proceeding north from the intersection of the Erie Canalway and the LVNT, we already have a straight shot to Downtown Rochester, and (soon) to MCC’s new downtown campus. By tying these pieces together, we could link the three largest schools in the “Rochester Multiversity” and set the stage for further developments that could eventually embrace and augment Rochester’s growing network of bike lanes and trails, the Town of Brighton’s emerging Bicycle Master Plan, planned developments at College Town near UR, and at City Gate, and include many other schools and universities in the region.
Two modifications to the proposed project would make all this possible.
Link MCC to Brighton and UR. The Erie Canal defines the northern border of the MCC campus, and the southern border of UR to the west. But you currently have to bike south (to Brighton Henrietta Townline Rd), then east (to Clinton Ave) then north to cross the canal (via Clinton) before heading west on the Erie Canalway Trail. It’s an indirect, awkward, and automobile-heavy route. And yet, there is already a hikeable but underused trail from the north side of MCC to the southern bank of the canal.
Modification 1: Turn the hikeable trail from MCC to the Canal into a legitimate multi-use hiking and biking trail going west to Clinton and east to the East Henrietta bridge, and include ramps from the canalway to bike lanes that will allow riders to cross# and go north to the city, or go west along the Erie Canalway to UR, the City’s western wards, and county’s western suburbs. Now, MCC cyclists would be able to bike tens of miles to the East and to the West (and UR) on the car-free Canalway, encountering automobiles only at bridge crossings.
Link UR to RIT. It’s hard for automobile drivers to believe, and hard for casual cyclists to discover, but a beautiful trail connects the Erie Canalway at UR to Brighton Henrietta Town Line Road (across the street from the RIT Barnes and Noble at Park Point). The Lehigh Valley North Section Trail (LVNT) is a scenic 2.1 mile ride through woods and past ponds. It has some rough spots and it’s poorly marked, but that’s easy to fix.
Modification 2. Resurface and improve the LVNT, fix the curb cuts at East River Rd, put up a few signs, and declare victory. The result: a car-free multi-use trail that connects RIT to the UR and MCC!
And then, celebrate the synergies. All three schools would now have scenic and car-free routes to Downtown Rochester, and would all benefit from a further bit of good fortune. When the Erie Lackawanna Bridge reopens this Fall as a bike/ped bridge, cyclists will be able to proceed north from the LVNT and the Canalway, through Genesee Valley Park or the UR campus, and along either side of the river, along scenic and strategic bikeways that will rejuvenate neighborhoods, and also mitigate parking pressures on our campuses and downtown.
Rochester’s destiny is tied to its universities. Bike-friendly cities like Portland, OR Minneapolis, and Milwaukee have demonstrated, and this past spring’s Greater Rochester Active Transportation Symposium indicated that modest investments in active transportation infrastructures bring spectacular economic and social payoffs. Let’s use the 390 interchange project to turn such insights into action.
Done right, this project can make our region proud, our nation strong, and our children healthy.
As mentioned earlier, NYSDOT is accepting public comment on the project until January 30, and all the project documentation is online. They need to hear from us! Please send your comments about PIN-439017 by email to hressel@dot.state.ny.us or via the NYSDOT webpage at https://www.dot.ny.gov/access390/outreach.
…
P.S. One more note. The plans presented at the public meeting include an at-grade intersection–and potential accident zone–where a new looping ramp at W. Henrietta would cross the bike access trail coming up from the Erie Canalway. This problem can be avoided by re-routing the bike access trail around the outside of the looping ramp, or by creating a new exit from the Canalway into a low-traffic parking area at Monroe Community Hospital Dr 5.
Bicycle Benefits is now here in Rochester
Happy New Year, cyclists!
The fantastic nation-wide program Bicycle Benefits is now here in Rochester.
Kick off 2012 by getting your $5 membership helmet sticker at participating locations, and then ride your bike to other participating businesses to receive your discount on products and services.
The first local business to join was Park Ave. Bikes (thank you, Andy!); other recent businesses joining include Java’s, Callan-Harris Physical Therapy, and the Owl House.
You can read more about the program at http://www.bicyclebenefits.org. Click on “New York” on the left side of the home page, and then on “Rochester,” and you will find new businesses added as they join. You can also see the location of each business as well as the details about the discounts offered.
If you know of any businesses that would like to join, please contact us at the RCA, or the business can contact Bicycle Benefits directly. It is virtually a cost-free program for businesses, and is one that encourages cleaner air, personal health, and the use of pedaling energy in order to create a more sustainable community.
Please join us to help make Bicycle Benefits a success in the Flower City. And let’s put more people on bikes and continue to bring active transportation to Rochester!
The Rochester Cycling Alliance Board of Directors
Access 390: Interchange 16/ I-390 Rehabilitation at Routes 15 and 15A
This is a very important NYS DOT project that will have a major impact
on transportation to/from the University of Rochester.
The NYS DOT web site for the project is https://www.dot.ny.gov/access390.
Access 390: Interchange 16/ I-390 Rehabilitation at Routes 15 and 15A
Project I.D. No. 4390.17
Public Hearing:
Tuesday January 17, 2012
Open house 3 – 5p.m. and 6 – 7:15p.m.
Hearing 7:30p.m.
Monroe Community Hospital Auditorium
435 E. Henrietta Road
Rochester, NY 14620
RCA Cycling Forum With Chief Sheppard of the Rochester Police Department
RCA Cycling Forum With Chief Sheppard of the Rochester Police Department
Monday, December 12, 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM
Bausch and Lomb Library
Kate Gleason Auditorium
This is an opportunity for members of the Rochester cycling community to ask the Chief questions about cycling topics such as:
-Bike Theft
-RPD response to bike/car crashes
-RPD officer training in bicycle law
The Bicycle Infrastructure is Growing in the City of Rochester
The City of Rochester Bicycle Master Plan was completed in January 2011. The plan’s recommendations serve as a framework for the city’s future investment in bicycle infrastructure; http://www.cityofrochester.gov/article.aspx?id=8589943115.
And here is a list of the bicycle infrastructure that has been implemented since the plan was completed in January 2011.
Sharrows, a Share the Road Symbol, painted on roadways–approximately 5 lane miles
Bicycle Shelter – Court Street
Bicycle Lanes – approximately 6 lane miles
Bicycle Work Station – Sisters Cities Parking Garage, Fitzhugh St.
Bicycle Parking Racks – more added throughout the City
Portable Bicycle Parking Racks – used at Greentopia Festival in September
More Sharrow and Bicycle Lane miles are planned for 2012.
Now is a good time to send your Hoorays to the City.
Bicyclist assaulted on Erie Canal Trail near Clover St. Friday October 7, 2011
The D&C reported that Douglas Brown was assaulted and left unconscious. This is the text from the D&C:
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office is investigating an attack on the Erie Canal path in Pittsford on Monday. Douglas Brown, 58, of Rochester was riding his bicycle on the path near Clover Street around 12:30 p.m. when another man on a bicycle kicked Brown’s tire, which caused him to fall.The suspect then kicked and punched Brown in the head and caused him to lose consciousness, said Cpl. John Helfer.Brown was taken to a hospital for treatment.
Update 10/14/2011 Suspect apprehended
Critical Mass Transit Day October 20, 2011
Critical Mass Transit Day
RIDE THE BUS FOR FREE ON CRITICAL MASS TRANSIT DAY (OCT. 20)
Reconnect Rochester, RTS Partner to Stop the Exodus of $1.5 Million Vanishing from the Local Economy Daily
Riders with a “UFO” pin, available at local retailers and by mail, will be able to ride local buses for free all day on October 20, the first Critical Mass Transit Day. The UFO promotion is part of an ongoing effort to raise awareness of the $1.5 million in gasoline money that is abducted from local economy every day. Critical Mass Transit is a joint effort by RTS and Reconnect Rochester, a transit advocacy group. By using bus transit as an alternative to driving a car, Rochesterians have the power to reinvest those dollars back into Rochester’s economy. Learn more at http://RochesterVanishing.info
All RTS buses have bicycle racks that hold two bicycle. Take your bicycle for a ride on a bus. No extra charge.
Bicycle Lane open on St. Paul St.
The striping is completed on the repaving project on St. Paul St. from Lowell St. to Riverbank Pl ( two blocks south of Driving Park Ave.). Some sections have a parking lane added.
Urban Trail Linkages Public Informational Meeting Notice – TIME 6 – 8 P.M. 10/4/2011
Urban Trail Linkages Public Informational Meeting Notice
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
TIME OF MEETING IS 6 – 8P.M.
Urban Trail Linkages Public Informational Meeting Notice
Urban Trail Linkages Public Informational Meeting Notice
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
210 Maplewood Drive
City’s Maplewood Training Center – use entrance on Bridge View Drive
Rochester, NY
Proposed Eastman Park Trail – Kings Landing Cemetery to NYS Route 390
Genesee Riverway Trail (GRT) – Relining the GRT from
Kings Landing Cemetery to Turning Point Park
For details of the project: http://www.cityofrochester.gov/UrbanTrailLinkages/
RCA meeting Tuesday September 20 at U of R
RCA Meeting – All welcome
Date: Tuesday September 20, 2011
Time: 7:00 – 9p.m.
Location: U of R Meliora Hall, Room 209 (new location)
Map Link: http://www.rochester.edu/maps/ (River Campus)
Think Bicycling as Transportation
Bicycle Lane on Atlantic Ave.
Today the bicycle lane on Atlantic Ave. from Russel St. to east of the CSX RR underpass is done.
The RCA Greentopia Bike the Bridges Ride Saturday September 17
On Saturday September 17 the RCA is organizing a self-guided Bike the Bridges ride to the Greentopia Festival site at High Falls from Genesee Valley Park (GVP), six miles one-way.
Meet at GVP anytime between 9:00 -10:30 A.M. and join other cyclists riding to the festival.
Print ride maps off the web site and sign the ride waiver on- line, www.greentopiafestival.com/highlights/bike.
The Rochester Cycling Alliance (RCA) will have a table at the Greentopia Festival on September 17 & 18, 10:00a .m. – 6:00 p.m. Admission to the festival is free. Go to www.greentopiafestival.com for more information.
W. Broad St. Sharrow
The first ‘sharrow’ to appear in the downtown area is on W. Board St. near Main St.
The ‘sharrow’ is a road sharing symbol that will be mainly used where there is no room to strip a bicycle lane. 2011 is the first year this new symbol is being used by the County DOT & the City DOT.
In time motorists will get used to this new sharing the lane symbol which will hopefully increase the safety of cyclists.
The chevron arrow of the symbol is to remind cyclists the direction of travel which will hopefully decrease wrong way cycling, a leading cause of auto and bicycle crashes.
The photo; looking toward Main St. (Nick Tahou’s) from the Brown St. intersection.
Reporting damage catch basins
Report damaged catch basins to Rochester Pure Waters District, 585.753.7600 x1. Reference an address to help pinpoint the location.
RCA at Greentopia
The Rochester Cycling Alliance (RCA) will have a presence at the Greentopia Festival on September 17 & 18, 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. Admission to the festival is free. Go to www.greentopiafestival.com for more information.
On Saturday the 17th, the RCA is organizing a self-guided Bike-the-Bridges ride to the festival fromGeneseeValleyParktoHighFalls(six miles one way). Meet there anytime between 9:00 -10:30 a.m. and join other cyclists riding to the event. Free bicycle parking is available at the event.
Print ride maps off the web site and sign the ride waiver on- line; www.greentopiafestival.com/highlights/bike.
The RCA will also have a table at the festival site. Stop by to get some free educational cycling material, bicycle road & trails map, or just to talk about the bicycle infrastructure in theRochesterregion.
The Cycling Alliance is gratefully accepting volunteers to staff the table. Go to https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AjwrTZlKE2FLdGw1bmROdXpjZGV0X19JWS04ZXMyaUE&hl=en_US&pli=1#gid=0 to claim your spot or contact Rochelle Bell at rbell@monroecounty.gov.
Bike Lanes Marked on Two Major Local New York State Roads
Bike Lanes now marked on two major local New York State roads.
The recently completed Jefferson Road project, Route 390 to Hylan Drive, now has an approximate four foot shoulder and marked with the bicycle lane logo.
Monroe Ave. from Clover St. to French road was recently repaved. The shoulder was increased from four to five feet and marked as a bicycle lane.
Both are challenging roads to cycle mainly due to a very high volume of motor vehicle traffic. I have seen many experienced cyclist riding on both roads during commute time periods. For those less experienced or fearful there are sidewalks on both roadways to ease your fears.
Ride safely.
Governor Cuomo Signs “Complete Streets”
![Pedestrians, cyclists, and transit riders in Rochester (and across New York state) will soon benefit from a new Complete Streets law. Thanks to the volunteers at Reconnect Rochester and outspoken citizens like you! [FLICKR PHOTO: _Yoshi]](http://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/monroe-avenue.jpg)
Earlier this year, Reconnect Rochester teamed up with Tri-State Transportation Campaign
and other transportation advocacy groups from around New York state in an effort to mobilize support for, and urge Governor Cuomo to sign New York’s first Complete Streets law. Thousands of you and other New Yorkers signed petitions and wrote and called your representatives. It made all the difference, helping to get this issue onto the agendas of elected officials and making sure it passed during a busy legislative session.
![Pedestrians, cyclists, and transit riders in Rochester (and across New York state) will soon benefit from a new Complete Streets law. Thanks to the volunteers at Reconnect Rochester and outspoken citizens like you! [IMAGE: Reconnect Rochester]](http://www.rochestersubway.com/images/photos/mode-prioritization.gif)
Earlier this week Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the bill that will make streets safer for everyone. The law will ensure that major road projects take into account the needs of pedestrians, cyclists, and people of all ages and abilities.
Whether young or old; on foot, in a wheelchair, on a bike, or in a car, everyone is safer when roads are designed so everyone can use them. Roads designed according to complete streets principles are safer and encourage walking and cycling, leading to healthier neighborhoods and better quality of life. This is an extremely important reform that will save lives.
Thank YOU for helping to win positive change!