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Making Rochester Streets Safer for All: The 2023 Complete Streets Makeover of Arnett & Warwick

On June 10, Reconnect Rochester and an amazing team of partners came together to transform the intersection of Arnett Boulevard and Warwick Avenue in the 19th Ward. This project was our fourth Complete Streets Makeover, completing our ‘quadfecta’ of a project in every quadrant of the city. Before we dive into how we made the magic happen, let’s remember why this program is central to our work and mission at Reconnect Rochester.

Why We Need “Complete Streets”

Across the U.S., we are seeing a spike in pedestrian injuries and fatalities, and Monroe County has been no exception to that. Our Monroe County Crash Map shows that on average, 10 pedestrians and cyclists die from motor vehicle crashes every year. In 2023, we have already lost 7 pedestrians and 3 cyclists on our streets.

Responding to this growing epidemic was the impetus behind the creation of our Complete Streets Makeover (CSM) program in 2018. Our goal is to bring attention to complete street design as one critical factor in creating streets that are safe for everyone. A “complete street” allows everyone—regardless of age, ability or mode of transportation—safe access on that street. It is a street shared by pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders and motorists. 

“Complete Streets are streets for everyone. Complete Streets is an approach to planning, designing, building, operating, and maintaining streets that enables safe access for all people who need to use them, including pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists and transit riders of all ages and abilities.”

Smart Growth America | National Complete Streets Coalition

Selecting Arnett & Warwick

Along Arnett Boulevard in Rochester’s southwest quadrant, 12 crashes with pedestrians and cyclists occurred between 2012-2021 that resulted in serious or traumatic injuries. 

Experiencing the harm of this road violence is perhaps what motivated members of the Arnett Block Association to nominate the intersection of Arnett & Warwick for a Complete Streets Makeover. The submission was the most extravagant we’ve ever received, complete with a compelling narrative, stated commitments from neighborhood organizations, and a host of images and videos (check one of them out here) providing evidence and testimony from concerned community members who wanted to see change.

In reviewing this nomination and judging the location by a set of established criteria, our Steering Committee was convinced that Arnett and Warwick presented the right mix of community support, evidence of safety concerns, and had great potential for a street redesign.  A Complete Streets Makeover at the intersection would create real, transformative change for the community through this project.

This intersection is also at the heart of a community hub featuring the Arnett Branch Library, the family-owned Arnett Cafe and School #16 right around the corner. Because of the proximity to kids, there was an emphasis on improving safety for children and families, the community’s most vulnerable road users.

Gathering Community Input

We kicked off the project with a community workshop in February 2023 at the Arnett Branch Library Community Room. Over 40 community members came out to share their experiences, identify the issues that they have seen along this corridor, and offer their ideas and solutions to improve safety and create a welcoming space.

Common issues identified by the community included: lack of crosswalks across Arnett Boulevard, frequent speeding, and low visibility of cars for pedestrians. 

Common solutions identified by the community included: installing crosswalks, curb bumpouts, more signage and installing beautification features and pedestrian infrastructure including benches and planters.

The Stantec Team provided a map and transfer paper so that community members could draw street design elements and solutions.

Following the workshop, the Stantec team got to work creating a rendering that would reflect the community’s input, and bi-weekly meetings with a core group of neighbors commenced to begin planning for the many aspects of the event: the street mural, food, music, a parklet outside of the library, and other placemaking elements. The community identified neighborhood artist Richmond Futch Jr. to lead the design and implementation of the street mural which would become a focal point of the project and a crucial design element to capture the attention of drivers and encourage them to slow down. 

Richmond’s initial design of the street mural:

Stantec’s design rendering incorporating Richmond’s design and the community’s input:

You can imagine that at this point during the process, there was a lot of excitement and energy looking forward to the day of the event where we would bring this all to life.

Making the Magic Happen at Arnett & Warwick

After much planning, over 100 people came out to Arnett & Warwick on June 10 to make the magic happen! Attendees were made up of people from the neighborhood, youth organizers and leaders from The Center for Teen Empowerment, children from School No. 16, and a team of community partners*. Together, we worked to make the intersection of Arnett Blvd and Warwick Avenue a more vibrant, safer place for everyone.

Design elements to calm traffic and improve safety included curb bump outs with bollards to slow cars turning onto Warwick or Arnett, and a street mural. Other elements to beautify the space included:

  • A wishing tree where community members can leave positive messages to uplift others
  • Flower planters made from repurposed bus stop cubes
  • A built out parklet that used a parking space in front of the Arnett Branch Library and transformed it into a kid-friendly space with colorful benches, turf, a copycat Simon Says game and hopscotch.

View more photos of the day here, courtesy of Healthi Kids.

Nothing captures the life of a project better than film. Reconnect Rochester is pleased to share this short film, produced by Floating Home Films, that tells the full story.

Filmed and Edited by Floating Home Films

The Impact

But did it make a difference? YES! Data collected before and after the implementation (April and July, respectively) shows a measurable decrease in vehicle speeds along Arnett & Warwick.

Makeover speed data graphic

After implementation, the 85th percentile speed (the speed that 85% of vehicles travel at or below) declined 9% and the average speed declined 10%. When it comes to speed, each mile-per-hour a driver is traveling makes a difference for pedestrian and cyclist safety, and can be the difference between life and death or a person sustaining life altering injuries.

The impact of vehicle speed in pedestrian collisions (The Healthi Kids Coalition)

The City of Rochester has already approved a permanent crosswalk for the intersection as a direct result of this project, so the neighborhood can look forward to that coming soon!

Looking Ahead

Our awesome team is taking one year off in between projects, but we’ll be back in mid-2024 with a public call for submissions, so keep taking note of the intersections and trouble spots you experience in your daily travels that could use a Complete Streets Makeover! Together, we’ll keep advocating to design our streets for people, and we’ll keep making it happen one intersection at a time.

Community Partners

The Complete Streets Makeover of Arnett & Warwick was a collaborative venture with the following community partners:

and,

Richmond Futch, Jr., 19th Ward Neighborhood Artist

Amy Schramm, School 16 Art Teacher

Funding Support

This project is supported with funding provided by ESL Charitable Foundation, The Community Foundation, Genesee Transportation Council, and New York State Department of Health’s Creating Healthy Schools and Communities initiative.

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Making Rochester Streets Safer for All: The 2022 Complete Streets Makeover of Orange & Orchard

Makeover team at Orange & Orchard
Photo Credit: De’Jon Washington

As we report out on the third successful Complete Streets Makeover project, let’s remember why we do this.

In the U.S., pedestrian fatalities have skyrocketed, increasing by 59% from 2009-2020. According to the latest “Dangerous By Design” report, between 2009-2020, drivers struck and killed 64,073 pedestrians in this country. Here in Monroe County, from 2012-2021, over 5,000 crashes involved bicyclists and pedestrians, and ten people die on our local streets every year as a result of these crashes.

Monroe County Crash Map
Reconnect Rochester Crash Map of Monroe County, 2012-2021

Responding to this growing epidemic was the impetus behind our Complete Streets Makeover project, created to bring attention to street design as one critical factor in the safe streets equation.

The Selection Process

We began this year’s project back in July 2021 by asking you (the people that walk, bike, and roll along our streets every day) to help identify the intersections and trouble spots where you live, work and play that could be redesigned to make them safer for everyone. The community response was tremendous, and we received a total of 76 nominations for 68 locations in Monroe County.

From these submissions, our Steering Committee selected the intersection of Orange Street & Orchard Street in the JOSANA neighborhood for this year’s project.

Complete Streets Makeover Steering Committee
The Steering Committee hard at work

The Orange & Orchard location presented the right mix of community support, evidence of safety concerns, and potential for a street redesign that would create real, transformative change for the community through this project. School 17 is located right at this intersection and was a strong advocate for implementing change. Last fall, the Rochester City School District eliminated the Walker-Bus Program that had provided transportation for students living within 1.5 miles of their school, which contributed to the school’s desire to improve safety for its walkers.

Getting Community Input

So what happened next? We connected with representatives of School 17 and the JOSANA neighborhood, and together we planned a community workshop held in February at the school. We invited school families and residents to come share their experiences at this intersection and ideas for how it could be safer. At the workshop, which was facilitated by the Community Design Center of Rochester-CDCR, attendees were first led through the basics of road safety statistics and complete streets. Then, CDCR volunteers helped translate the community’s thoughts and desires into actionable design elements that would improve the intersection.

Based on community input from this session, the Stantec team drafted a conceptual drawing of street design improvements. Their rendering focused on elements that could be brought to life in the temporary, on-street installation and then translated into permanent improvements.

Complete Streets Makeover Design Rendering

Making Magic at Orange & Orchard

After much planning with the JOSANA neighborhood, over 150 people came out to Orange & Orchard on May 14 to make the magic happen! Attendees were made up of people from the neighborhood, school community, and a team of community partners*. Together, we worked to make the intersection of Orange Street & Orchard Street a more vibrant, safer place for everyone.

Design elements to calm traffic and improve safety included enhanced signage, curb extensions, temporary speed cushions, and a street mural designed by local artist Shawn Dunwoody. The temporary design was created by Stantec, which donates pro bono professional engineering services for the project. Other elements to beautify the space, like fence art and flower planters, were done with help of 2nd graders as part of their class project.

Nothing captures the life of a project better than film. Reconnect Rochester is pleased to share this short film, produced by Floating Home Films, that tells the full story.

We hope you enjoyed watching a beautiful display of community! We will continue supporting the neighborhood in their effort to make these temporary street design improvements permanent.

The Impact

But did it make a difference? YES! Data collected before and after the implementation (April and July, respectively) shows a measurable decrease in vehicle speeds along Orchard Street. Let’s get specific.

Makeover speed data graphic

Since the implementation, the 85th percentile speed (the speed that 85% of vehicles travel at or below) declined 28% and the maximum speed declined 26%. It’s worth noting that the maximum recorded speed in July happened between 1:15am and 1:30am.  Other than that outlier, the maximum speed was only 32 mph!  Even the average speed dropped 20%, despite there being no school in July. This is particularly notable with the safe assumption that arrival/dismissal congestion suppressed the speed of a great deal of traffic during our April data collection.  Finally, the speed data showed only 13 of 1,017 vehicles were traveling over 25 mph.

When it comes to speed, each mile-per-hour a driver is traveling makes a difference for pedestrian and cyclist safety, and can be the difference between life and death or a person sustaining life altering injuries.

Impact of pedestrian collisions graphic
The impact of vehicle speed in pedestrian collisions (The Healthi Kids Coalition)

Learn even more about the Complete Streets Makeover of Orange & Orchard

Looking Ahead

Our awesome team is on board to continue our Complete Streets Makeover program in 2023 and beyond!  So keep taking note of the intersections and trouble spots you experience in your daily travels that could use a re-design, and keep an eye out for calls for public submissions. Together, we’ll keep advocating to design our streets for people, and we’ll keep making it happen one intersection at a time.

*Community Partners

The Complete Streets Makeover of Orange & Orchard was a collaborative venture with the following community partners: