In terms of bike education, John Forester’s Vehicular Cycling philosophy (drive your bike as if you were operating a car) has dominated in the US. If you can learn those tenets and develop a little bit of courage, that philosophy will absolutely keep you safer when riding. But we’ll readily admit that vehicular cycling philosophy alone doesn’t get a whole lot of people on bikes. That’s why we’re pro-bike education and pro-bike infrastructure at Reconnect Rochester.
As we’ve explored before, sidewalk-bicycling is legal in Rochester. While not as safe as many assume, sidewalk-riding can be used to the cyclist’s advantage – for short term maneuvers while taking precautions. Cyclists, after all, do have it both ways as John Forester himself notes:
Traffic law has two different sets of rules, one for pedestrians and one for drivers. Cyclists are unique because they are the only [roadway] users who have a choice. They can follow drivers’ rules when traveling on the roadway, or pedestrians’ rules if they travel on the sidewalk or crosswalk. It is nearly always more effective to be a driver…Being a pedestrian is the cyclist’s last resort when nothing else works.
One of the many benefits of bicycling around is that we tend to have more options than motorists do. Depending on the municipality, you can resort to using the sidewalk for a bit. Whereas motorists can’t drive in the shoulder or on trails, cyclists can. We can ride two abreast (if space is available). There are of course cut-throughs and shortcuts too small for motor vehicles that our shoulder-width vehicles can fit in. We also have more options for making turns.
Today, let’s examine the three ways cyclists can take a left turn.
1. Turning left as a motorist would
The default way any bike curriculum will teach you to make a left turn is by turning left as a motorist would: often in a dedicated left turn lane. We highly recommend learning and developing this skill. If you can work your way up to this and do it safely, the world opens up to you. We go through the intricacies of this maneuver in our on-bike Smart Cycling classes, which are now free by the way. 😉 Short version:
As you’re riding on the right side of the road, scan over your left shoulder to get a good view of traffic behind you (get in the habit of doing this often; that head turn keeps motorists on their toes and lets them know you might be about to make a move; mirrors don’t have the same effect)
For 2-3 seconds, signal your intention to change lanes (left arm straight out)
Yield to traffic already in the lane
Scan again for good measure
Move carefully, smoothly & deliberately when you have the chance
Repeat for multiple lanes until you’re in the left turn lane
When you’re in the left turn lane, position yourself in the middle of it. Make your turn when you have the green light/arrow and the way is clear.
Of course, not everyone will be comfortable moving out from the side of the road into the middle, where they’re more vulnerable.
2. A two-stage (“Dutch”) turn
Another option, one that doesn’t require as much courage, is making a two-stage turn. These are common in the Netherlands, hence the moniker. In this maneuver, there’s no having to move out from the side of the road into the middle. Just proceed straight along the right side of the road through the intersection. Pull over to the right corner on the other side and reposition yourself to proceed in your new direction when the light turns green the other way.
Reconnect Rochester increasingly advocates for two-stage turn boxes on road projects since they’re more intuitive and easy for people. For an example of such a turn box in Rochester, see the corner of Court Street and Chestnut Street downtown. You don’t need a dedicated green turn box to make this maneuver. Those just help build awareness.
This option is the easiest but can take the most amount of time due to light cycles.
3. Wrapping around the corner via the sidewalk
Since Rochester bicyclists have the option of sidewalk-riding, there’s a third option: moving out earlier, getting on the sidewalk on the left side of the road prior to the intersection and using that sidewalk to wrap around in your new direction. Once the way is clear, you can transition back out into the street.
Example showing the path of a cyclist getting onto the sidewalk early before the intersection and using the sidewalk to wrap around in their new direction. They can transition back out into the street afterwards when the way is clear.
The benefits of this option are that the traffic lights at the intersection don’t affect you and you avoid being exposed in the intersection entirely. This can be useful if the light cycle is very long or there’s a lot of traffic from the other direction coming your way but you get the opportunity to safely transition onto the sidewalk early before that traffic gets to you. As always, go slow on the sidewalk, yield to pedestrians, maintain awareness and watch for turning vehicles. We only advise sidewalk-riding for short stretches like this.
Conclusion
I’m a confident bike rider as a result of many years of experience having the bicycle being my primary way of getting around. I use all three of these options to make left turns. Time of day, visibility conditions, level of traffic, intuition and my general mood are all factors determining which option I use at a particular intersection. It’s nice to have options.
If you have joined one of our weekly rides, you have experienced the community and joy that comes with navigating our streets and trails on two wheels. This feeling is something that everyone deserves to experience safely. This is a big part of why we do the work we do at Reconnect Rochester. On Sunday, June 1st we will host our 4th annual ROC ‘n Roll fundraising bike ride so we can continue to advocate for robust and equitable transportation choices across Monroe County.
There are many incredible bike rides for a multitude of worthy and important causes every year, but we are proud to say that the ROC ‘n Roll is the only ride that directly benefits multimodal advocacy.
This is why we’re inviting you – our community of riders, advocates, and believers in complete streets – to join us on this ride to support this work. If there’s any reason you cannot join, we hope that you can donate to support the cause or attend the after party for riders and non-riders alike!
If you can only make one group ride this year (which we sincerely hope is not the case as we have many wonderful rides planned), we hope you can join us at the ROC ‘n Roll.
A county-wide crash map to raise awareness and support local advocacy efforts around safe streets
Free bike classes to teach you how to safely negotiate traffic
Nearly 300 advocacy meetings in 2024 contributing to make gains such as; funding a new intermodal bus station, more 15 minute service routes for RTS, bus stop improvements, building the bike spine, and ROC Vision Zero
These milestones show what’s possible when we work together. The funds we raise can continue our mission to champion transportation choice.
Here’s how you can help:
Sign up to ride with a friend or a group. *Bonus points if you come up with a themed group costume at the ride*
Attend our After Party with live music, games, a raffle, food & drink from Rohrbach’s Brewing Company, and a chance to link up with our county’s mobility advocates.
Send a donation to show your support for our work. Spread the word on why you donated and why this cause is worth supporting.
Share this blog post with your network!
This work takes all of us. The more we grow, the more we can accomplish. We need your help; not because you’re a great rider or a generous supporter but because you get how important and joyful this work truly is.
If you want a more walkable & bikeable community, get familiar with the recently adopted Active Transportation Plans by the City of Rochester and Monroe County. Press your electeds to implement those recommendations. For those wanting a deep dive on how bike lanes get built and how to be a good advocate, please subscribe to Reconnect Rochester’s Mobility Action Alerts.
Thank you to all who joined our 4th Annual ROC ‘n Roll fundraising ride! Your support fuels Reconnect Rochester’s work to champion transportation choices in Monroe County.
“I loved street riding in a way that felt safe. It was so fun to experience our gorgeous city from that vantage.”
“Riding a type of ride I never do. It was very eye-opening to see all the cycling infrastructure in the city. I had no clue.”
Meet us at Rohrbach Brewing Company’s Beer Hallon Railroad Street, where this year’s ROC ‘n Roll will begin and end. The ride is rain or shine but the after party will be inside if it rains.
The 8-mile ride is a family-friendly, casual route that features the traffic-free Riverway Trail. Check-in starts at 10:00 AM. Kickstands up at 10:30 AM.
The 30-mile ride is a mix of bike paths, bike lanes, and bike boulevards — and will probably take you places you’ve never seen in Rochester on a bike! Check-in starts at 8:30 AM. Kickstands up at 9:00 AM.
Registration-Walk Up Registration Available
$50 – Pre-registration
$60 – Day of registration (on 6/1)
Kids under 18 only $25
Includes after party admission (1 plate of food + your first drink/beer).
Snacks and water provided for riders pre- and post-ride, plus long route rest stop(s).
After Party!
Join us at ROC ‘n Roll event headquarters afterwards to eat, drink, and hang out! Enjoy live music from Spring Drive, play some yard games, and check out our raffle. Admission to the after party is included in rider registration. Non-riders can grab a ticket for just the after party via the registration button below. After party will be inside if it rains. All are welcome!
$25 – Includes 1 plate of food + your first drink/beer
Kids admitted free
(Bike ride participants do not have to buy a separate ticket for the after party – it’s already included!)
Party food options: burgers, hot dogs, veggie burgers, chips, fresh fruit, and other sides.
Donate to Support
Can’t make this event, but still want to support the cause?
We’ll gratefully accept a donation to let us know you’ll be with us in spirit! Visit the registration page to make an event donation.
Seeking Sponsors & Raffle Donations
Are you a business or organization interested in supporting our event? By partnering with Reconnect Rochester, you’ll join the movement for mobility equity, accessible recreation, sustainability, and safe streets. View sponsorship opportunities ranging from $500 – $10,000.
We also welcome in-kind donations for our RAFFLE. Bonus points if it’s Rochester or bike-themed! Contact jenna@ReconnectRochester.org if you’d like to make an item donation.
Car Lite Rochester is a blog series that highlights the stories of Rochesterians living a car-lite lifestyle. The term “car lite” encompasses a variety of multimodal transportation lifestyles, featuring little dependence (but not NO dependence) on a car. It typically looks like sharing one car within a household or only using a car when absolutely necessary.
So, we hope you’ll continue to follow along. Maybe you will be inspired to join our bloggers in living a car-lite lifestyle!
A College Student’s Journey On Two Wheels & Transit
By Una Gogstetter:
As a college student who, like many others my age, doesn’t own my own car, living car lite has been necessary for me. My experience getting around Rochester with limited car access has been both enjoyable and eye-opening. I am a current sophomore at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, with a Statistical and Data Sciences major, Urban Studies minor, and Community Engagement and Social Change concentration. Living without a car while away at college has also broadened my perspective on car lite living in Rochester
Car Lite in Rochester
For the past two summers, I biked or took the bus to my jobs (first at Corn Hill Navigation then at Rochester Area Community Foundation). While this was more by necessity than by conscious choice, I did particularly enjoy my experience biking. I would often listen to music through my earbuds on my way, the bike ride integrated exercise into my daily routine, and I was able to observe various people, houses, and businesses along my route.
Some of my favorite areas to bike have been the Railroad Loop Trail or passing by the lovely old houses on Park Avenue. Furthermore, RTS provided a convenient way for me to get to work in rainy weather—my house, near Cobbs Hill, is located in close proximity to a bus stop. I will likely spend much of this summer in Rochester and I intend to continue frequently commuting by bike or by bus.
The turn onto the Railroad Loop Trail.
The bike commute to my internship last summer involved this lovely section of Harvard Street.
While I’m lucky to have worked at locations I can travel to without a car, I am still cognizant of the ways in which access to transportation in Rochester could be expanded and improved. I have had to be mindful of transportation-related concerns when applying and planning my schedule for jobs and internships in Rochester, as I am unable to access many Rochester area locations without a car. Transportation-related logistics have also been a concern for me outside of work-related contexts.
Excursions ranging from dining out with a friend to purchasing a particular item I need to going on a family hike would be much more challenging without my parents and friends having cars. While it is of course possible to live car-free in many parts of Rochester, having zero access to a car would likely come with unavoidable drawbacks.
Although living car-free in any city comes with challenges, such challenges are greater in the absence of extensive public transportation systems as well as in the absence of comprehensive infrastructure supporting pedestrians and bicyclists.
Similarly to many cities, Rochester’s bike lanes are neither physically separated from car lanes nor consistently present even on busy streets. Therefore, the current arrangements force bicyclists to choose between riding beside automobiles or riding on the sidewalk. Furthermore, if someone is seeking to live a car lite lifestyle, and thus potentially biking rather than driving, their commute will likely coincide with rush hour—an especially dangerous time to bike in the road.
Comparisons with Northampton
Northampton is certainly imperfect regarding friendliness toward non-automobile forms of transportation. Its bike lanes are inconsistent, not physically separated from automobile traffic, and its bus system does not reach all areas of the city. Still the city has greater mindfulness of pedestrians in comparison to Rochester.
Crosswalks at locations other than traffic lights are much more common in Northampton. Pedestrians frequently utilize these crosswalks—the downtown area is often busy with people visiting the shops and farmers’ market. Additionally, drivers tend to be more considerate toward pedestrians. They consistently stop at the many crosswalks and, even outside of designated crossing locations, and display an awareness of pedestrians I wasn’t previously used to.
Overall, my experience living car lite in Rochester highlights the importance of Reconnect Rochester’s mission to “champion transportation choice”. Tangible improvements, such as expanding the public transportation system, implementing safer biking infrastructure, and creating more crosswalks, would be undeniably impactful. Such improvements, though, must perhaps be accompanied by a shift in residents’ attitudes. A high level of mindfulness toward pedestrians could become more normalized, as it is in Northampton. Biking, walking, and riding the bus would start to be seen as feasible alternatives to driving—a mindset shift that would be helped along by infrastructural improvements.
Improvements in the physical infrastructure and the public attitudes around car lite living in Rochester would allow residents with limited or no car access to get around more safely and easily. And any resident, car owner or not, could experience enhanced well-being and a deepened sense of connection to the city and its communities as a result of walking or biking more often.
At Reconnect, we’re inspired by the stories of people in our community, like Karen Nozik, Steve Roll, and Calvin Eaton, who are passionate about living a car-lite or car-free lifestyle. If you want to support our work and make it easier for others to go Car-Lite please donate and sign up for Mobility Action Alerts to stay in the loop with opportunities of how to advocate for safer streets and transportation options.
Let us know if you want to share your mobility story! What’s in it for you? The intrinsic reward of knowing you’ve inspired others, and a free t-shirt from our online shop! Contact Chaz to submit your story.
The protected bike lanes surrounding DC’s iconic landmarks highlight the importance of multimodal infrastructure for attracting residents and enhancing livability. Between the three bike share programs, metro trains, and a bus system, DC provides a multitude of options for those looking to get around without a personal vehicle. Pedestrian islands provide refuge for those crossing the street on foot while also providing space for turning bikers. Bus stop islands and shared bus stops allow riders to step out of the flow of traffic while maintaining awareness of cyclists.
We were struck by the decisive action of DDOT and their leadership prioritizing proven safety measures over means-testing and hesitation. Washington DC’s mayor has pushed to add 20 miles of protected bike lanes over three years to meet the demand for bicycle infrastructure for all ages and abilities without worrying about miniscule delays for drivers. Rochester could take inspiration from this approach by installing infrastructure such as two-way protected bike lanes. While this would require coordination with the county and some new traffic signal configurations, the benefits far outweigh the challenges.
We also had the chance to see DC’s Curb Extension Murals (the inspiration for Downtown SmART Streets) up close. As we prepare to break ground on this new program and review artist submissions (due March 22nd) we were eager to take notes on what has worked (and what hasn’t) for these traffic calming elements.
The Asks
The most critical part of the summit was taking our advocacy to Capitol Hill. Thank you to the League of American Bicyclists for the herculean task of organizing these meetings on a national scale. Our first ask? Fighting for Safe Streets for All grant funding—money that has already been approved by Congress but is now threatened in an unprecedented move from the Executive Branch.
The local projects funded by this grant are designed to meet the needs of each community, understanding that local governments know their streets best. In our meetings with Congressional Representative Joe Morelle, staff from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office, and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand’s legislative aide, we pressed them to recognize the importance of projects such as completing Rochester’s Bike Spine Network or expanding our Downtown SmART Streets program. These projects will make the streets safer for everyone—cyclists, pedestrians, and drivers alike. Canceling their funding will also harm our communities through the loss of local construction jobs from the projects and the long-term economic benefits these amenities bring.
As traffic dangers increase for everyone on our roads, improving safety isn’t a political issue; it’s a necessity.
Our next ask to the US House of Representatives was to support HR 1668, The Sarah Debbink Langenkamp Active Transportation Safety Act. In 2022, Sarah Lagenkamp was killed while riding her bike after dropping off her son at daycare. Her husband Daniel made it his mission to make our streets safer.
As the League of American Bicyclists say, this bill highlights the need to fill gaps in biking and walking networks and makes it easier for states and local governments to use Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP) dollars as a “local match” to build safe bicycling and pedestrian infrastructure.
We were proud to have a strong Rochester contingent to mingle with our fellow advocates across the country. If you want to get more involved in our incredible local bicycle community here at home, please make sure you are signed up for our Mobility Action Alerts for weekly emails with local advocacy opportunities for safer, multimodal streets.
Two immediate actions you can take to support our cause:
With federal funding for bike lanes and many important transportation projects in danger of being cut off by USDOTwe urgently need your support to show the importance of these projects for the entire community. The League of American Bicyclists have put together a petition to show how many people oppose cutting this funding. Please take a moment to sign and send it to 5 of your friends Getting as many signatures as possible is critical to the success of our upcoming projects.
On Rochester’s last Report Card from the League of American Bicyclists, we were urged to collect and track bike crash data. With that in mind, Reconnect Rochester started requesting crash reports involving cyclists in 2021 under the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL). We started small by just collecting and analyzing city crashes but soon branched out to crashes in the suburbs too.
Today we’ll explore what is consistently the most common cyclist crash in Monroe County. We want all road users to be aware and take appropriate safety measures, both for themselves and for the safety of others. In separate blog posts, we’ll parse out other findings from these reports.
In the early days of bicycling, roads weren’t suitable for riding. They weren’t paved and were thus dusty, muddy and full of horse poop. The only smooth, hard rideable surface was the sidewalk network. When too many Rochester cyclists started using the sidewalks, pedestrians were inconvenienced and the local law was changed. In 1896, Rochester cyclists were banned from riding on sidewalks, much to their consternation. That ultimately led to (short lived) bike infrastructure, and longer term to paved public roads, which became a normal expectation of government henceforward.
Meanwhile, the automobile gradually took over our cities and bicycling, for a variety of reasons, dwindled for decades to primarily become a childrens’ activity. (It was the 1970s oil crisis and better built bikes and new gearing which gradually started bringing adult bicycling back). Sadly, a spate of fatal crashes involving Rochester children in the 1950s woke the community up to the need for changing laws once again.
The City Code was changed in 1958 to allow sidewalk riding here. Bicyclists in Rochester, therefore have it both ways. They can choose to ride in the road following most of the rules for motor vehicle drivers OR if they’re not comfortable riding in the road, they can bike or scoot on the sidewalk where they are more or less treated as a higher speed pedestrian.
The most common bike/automobile crash in Monroe County features a motorist failing to yield to a sidewalk-riding cyclist approaching from their right. Just as pedestrians can walk both ways on a sidewalk, cyclists can ride both ways on the sidewalk, though riding on the sidewalk on the right side of the road with the flow of traffic is much safer. (The law requiring cyclists to ride on the right with the flow of traffic applies only when riding in the road itself). When riding on the sidewalk on the leftside of the road facing traffic, the trouble for cyclists primarily comes at intersections and parking lot exits.
It’s all too common for motorists wanting to turn right at a red light or stop sign to only look to their left, waiting for a break in oncoming traffic before making their turn. Pedestrians or cyclists entering the crosswalk from their right must be yielded to. Therefore motorists must look both ways, ensuring the way is clear and that their turn can be made with safety.
It should be noted that this failure on the motorist’s part is a ticketable offense. On rare occasions, law enforcement in Monroe County will issue motorists tickets for either of the following violations in this scenario:
VTL 1146 Every driver shall exercise due care to avoid colliding with any bicyclist or pedestrian…
VTL 1151 Drivers shall yield the right of way, slowing down or stopping if need be to so yield, to a pedestrian crossing the roadway within a crosswalk… (In their crash reports, it’s very common for Officers to refer to the cyclist in this scenario as a pedestrian – with all their accompanying rights)
What can drivers do to avoid this particular crash?
The law requires motorists to come to a stop *before* the stop line/marked crosswalk, if there is one. If not, you must stop *before* you enter the crosswalk area. (Crosswalks exist legally whether or not they are marked).
Only after yielding to people walking or rolling in the crosswalk and ensuring the way is clear in *both* directions can motorists creep up gradually to get a better view, waiting for a break in traffic before making their turn with safety.
What can bike riders do to avoid this common crash scenario?
Because riding on the sidewalk opens you up to some very common motorist mistakes here, we recommend riding on the right side of the road with the flow of traffic. Yes, this can be scary at first (traffic will be coming up behind you on your left), but you are much more visible and predictable this way. The crash scenario we’re examining today is much more common than cyclists’ greatest fear (getting hit from behind or side-swiped).
Constant fear isn’t required when riding a bike, but constant vigilance is. If you choose to ride on the sidewalk, maintain awareness, scan around and behind you on a regular basis, and ride on the sidewalk on the right side with the flow of traffic. As noted above, motorists ahead of you tend to look left in your direction when approaching intersections, so you ought to be more visible to them.
Riding across crosswalks/parking lot exits via the sidewalk, don’t assume the driver sees you and will yield to you. You must negotiate and reach an understanding. This can be hard due to the increase in tinted windows which don’t allow you to interact with the driver in any way. Don’t proceed until you know it’s safe in all directions.
Some safety educators would advise you to dismount and walk your bike across crosswalks, particularly at busy intersections.
Crossing intersections on the lefthand sidewalk also puts you in danger of other turning motorists, such as motorists behind you turning left.
For municipalities that allow sidewalk-riding, update your code to require motorists to yield to bike & scooter riders in the crosswalk too. This is already the “common law” interpretation, but it helps to get rid of the ambiguity. Clear motorist expectations are important.
Continual messaging to motorists that cyclists have every right to ride in the street
Do us a favor and spread this finding widely. If Monroe County could eliminate or lessen this crash scenario, we’d see a significant decrease in motorist/cyclist crashes. Stay tuned for more crash analysis…
Our biking community in Monroe County is diverse and vibrant. But what if everyone who wanted to bike could feel comfortable and protected doing it? They could if we made our bike network safe, low-stress and seamless for all kinds of people.
Two key transportation plans were adopted in 2023 that, if aggressively implemented, would significantly expand and transform bike infrastructure in our community. The Monroe County Active Transportation Plan and the City of Rochester Active Transportation Plan were completed in a coordinated fashion so that the bike network envisioned in the city would someday continue out into Monroe County’s towns and suburbs. These two plans quite literally provide a roadmap for building a bike transportation system throughout Monroe County.
The City of Rochester calls the main corridors of their envisioned ideal the Bike Spine Network. Our hope is for the city to provide a high-comfort and seamless bike transportation network, or a connected bike spine, in a matter of years – not decades. Therefore we will use this space to track the progress of the most crucial sections (Spines A and H) of the City’s Bike Spine Network.
We can attain a “minimum grid” of north-south & east-west bike facilities through downtown by focusing on completing Spines A and H. Investing in the 8 miles needed to connect these two spines are the key to success and must be completed in the near-term.
Spine A: The Genesee Riverway Trail
This is an important north-south connection along the Genesee River. The city is conducting a trail study to identify feasible options for completing the Genesee Riverway Trail on both sides of the river between downtown and the lake.
All that’s needed to complete Spine A: 2 miles of new trail (or protected bike lane) investment.
The city has a study underway to determine the most feasible way of closing the gap in the Genesee Riverway Trail north of downtown to where it resumes at Lower Falls.
The ROC the Riverway project is gradually extending the Riverway Trail through downtown. This is difficult and expensive since so many buildings there go right up to the river’s edge. But bit by bit as money comes in, it’s happening!
East and West Main Streets and Chili Avenue connect people on this bikeway from the city’s western border at Chili to its eastern border at Brighton.
What’s needed to complete Spine H? 6 miles of new investment.
Scattered segments of East and West Main streets have conventional bike lanes. But those don’t meet the criteria of the ATP’s Bike Spine Network, which should be usable and comfortable for riders of all ages and abilities. The only segment that does meet the criteria currently is between Goodman and Culver. It had cycletracks installed on each side in 2021. We can expect protected bike infrastructure from 490 westbound to the Canal in the not too distant future. And the City is planning on fixing East Main between Union and Goodman with a Safe Streets For All grant, probably in 2028.
From Union Street west through downtown to 490 is still an issue. As is Main Street east of Culver.
Car Lite Rochester is a blog series that highlights the stories of Rochesterians living a car-lite lifestyle. The term “car lite” encompasses a variety of multimodal transportation lifestyles, featuring little dependence (but not NO dependence) on a car. It typically looks like sharing one car within a household or only using a car when absolutely necessary.
So, we hope you’ll continue to follow along. Maybe you will be inspired to join our bloggers in living a car-lite lifestyle!
I leave for work around 7:30 each morning. In winter, that’s when the sun clears the horizon, slicing through the trees and spotlighting treasures like my neighbor’s PEACE sign—a gem I would surely have missed if not for its timely glow as I walked by. Stunningly beautiful!
Today’s scene was no less inspiring. The sky displayed every shade of pink and orange against freshly fallen snow. These are the moments that make life worth living! Had I not been outside walking I most certainly would have missed it.
When I think of my walkable life, the gratitude I feel cannot be contained. While reflecting on why I often choose walking over driving, I realized it’s because walking outdoors is the only time I truly feel free. When I am out walking it is my time—precious stretches between hither and yon where no one can find me. I go at my own pace, look at things that catch my eye, see things about my city that can never be seen from inside a car. It’s a time when I truly live—focusing not on what I have to do, but on what I want to (traffic being the only exception, of course!).
Art Everywhere
Once you break free from the shackles of traffic—with its constant demands and occasional mean-spiritedness—you’ll be amazed to discover art all around you. It’s in the gargoyles perched on buildings, staring down from above, and in the vibrant murals bursting with color on their walls. It’s in the historical markers scattered through parks, offering fresh context and appreciation for the struggles of those who came before us, the vision of past civic leaders, and the progress we’ve made in transforming neighborhoods into more livable spaces. You’ll find it in splendid gardens, cascading fountains, and the intricate beauty of stained-glass windows.
Add Time to Your Day
A lot of people wonder how I can be so prompt if I always arrive on foot. They mistakenly believe that driving is always faster than walking. But I am almost never late. I pride myself on arriving on-time, mindful not to “steal other people’s time.”
The truth is— “trip-chaining” errands– the practice of linking multiple walking trips together in a single outing and combining several tasks into one journey is the most efficient way to travel! It minimizes travel time and distance and reduces repeated car starts and stops. Consider that I never have to waste time looking for parking. Or wait for traffic lights to change. I just keep moving by crossing the street in the other direction to get across and continue on my way. If you feel like you don’t have enough time in your day, try walking where you need to go. I promise it will feel like you are gaining time back from everything that has been conspiring to rob it!
Who Needs a Gym? (Or Pharmaceuticals?)
And forget excuses about not having time to work out. Or seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Walking is an antidote to the winter blues. As a bonus, while enjoying surroundings and avoiding road rage, I can also hit my 10,000 steps, listen to music (and even dance along), stay up-to-date on podcasts, reduce stress, breathe fresh air, and reflect on the day’s events. Nothing like a walk through the park to blow off steam, get your Vitamin D on, and forget about work.
Speaking of work, some of the best work meetings happen on a walk. The open air makes it easier to deliver bad news or tackle tough problems head-on. There’s something about walking and talking that sparks creativity, eases tension and builds camaraderie.
It’s All about the Gear (and Planning Ahead!)
Arriving at work after a cold Monday morning walk. Wearing black from head to toe without reflectors isn’t the best idea, but against a snowstorm?! (Take that logic with a grain of salt!)
Of course, walking everywhere sometimes requires a little planning ahead—what shoes will you need once you get there? (What shoes will you need to walk there?) It’s all about the right gear to weather the weather and get you where you’re going. The common phrase “use the right tool for the job” fits. I call my closet the convertible wardrobe, because every piece of clothing should do double-time in my walkable life. Those walking tights pair nicely with my work dress and boots!
Still, how will you get groceries home? Is it raining? These are trivial obstacles to a walking life, and nothing that a lightweight trusty backpack, sturdy boots, an umbrella, and a warm hat cannot solve. (My Jan sport is still going strong after 40 years. I wouldn’t call it fashion, but it’s black and fits in anywhere—business meetings, theatrical performances, the public market). For a middle-aged woman fighting osteoporosis, carrying weight on my back helps keep bones strong and is just what the doctor ordered.
Get to know your Trees, and your Neighbors
In short, there are dozens of reasons why walking is preferable over driving. Walking offers so much more than just a way to get from point A to point B —it’s a lifestyle choice that enriches every part of my day. It helps to assuage highway anxiety, allows chance meetings with neighbors and friends, and connects me with my community. It supports local businesses, keeps me active and healthy, and allows for notice and appreciation of the art and nature around me. Trees look different 365 days a year, and just by watching them while walking we can learn things. Walking gives back time for simple pleasures while saving money and sparing my car wear and tear. Most importantly, it brings a sense of peace and serenity that driving simply can’t match. That’s why, whenever I can, I choose to walk. And you can, too.
Get Involved
Reconnect Rochester has been integral to improving transportation options in Rochester and Monroe County. This work is important so that transportation is less of an obstacle for daily living.
Join Reconnect Rochester in making our city and county more livable by expanding transportation options:
Sign up for Mobility Action Alerts to stay in the loop with opportunities of how to advocate for safer streets and transportation options
Be part of the change happening in Rochester by getting “multi-modal” yourself and riding a bike, taking the bus, walking, or rolling for your next trip!
At Reconnect, we’re inspired by the stories of people in our community, like Steve Roll, Calvin Eaton and Yamini Karandikar, who are passionate about living a car-lite or car-free lifestyle.
Let us know if you want to share your mobility story! What’s in it for you? The intrinsic reward of knowing you’ve inspired others, and a free t-shirt from our online shop! Contact Chaz to submit your story.
In our climate, most people ride bikes in the Spring, Summer and Fall and that’s okay! When the cycling scene slows down in November, our cycling Instagram account would go almost completely dark for several months. The thought struck us in 2019 that we could use that season to feature guest contributions from area cyclists. It would be a fun way to celebrate biking in Rochester. Contributors could give us a glimpse of their biking lifestyle, what it means to them, what got them into riding, their favorite places to ride and groups to ride with, etc. It’s become a neat way for cyclists who bike in different ways for different reasons to find commonality.
We are proud to present below consolidated stories of our contributors from fall 2023-spring 2024. We hope it inspires you to get out and ride!
Carlo Jereza
“I got into biking primarily for health reasons. I’m in my 50s and my health was starting to decline due to being a couch potato. Biking has become some sort of meditation for me to get away from the world. My favorite places to ride are the Erie Canal Trail and the beaches by Lake Ontario. I’ve found Rochester to be pretty bike friendly.”
(five posts Nov 10-22, 2023)
Gina Cardarelli
“Rochester has natural topographical advantages for a bicycle friendly city: waterways and a mostly flat landscape in the city. The improvements in infrastructure are very encouraging. “Aren’t you afraid of cars?” People ask. The reward still outweighs the risk for me. I can get from A to B while improving my mood, cognition, and fitness. I’ve also learned when pairing a bike with a bus, many of the most troublesome legs of some trips can be eliminated with planning.”
(six posts Nov 24-Dec 7, 2023)
Nick Giordano
“I moved from the suburbs into the city and traded my car for a bike for parking reasons. I quickly fell in love with the joy of biking and have been regularly riding for the last ten years. My favorite group rides are the Flower Pedal Populaire and the Fall Classic. Dressing up and biking with a big group is so much fun. The Keeping it Classy Cycling Club is great at keeping riders safe. I’ve also done Reconnect Rochester rides and the (now defunct) Coffee and Cogs 585 group. One of my favorite rides is the Genesee Riverway Trail going past the Maplewood Rose Garden, through Turning Point Park and heading down to Abbotts at the Lake. On the way back I like to ride the trail that runs parallel to the @senecaparkzoo and then take the el camino trail back into the city.”
(five posts Dec 8-20, 2023)
Kathryn O’Brien
“I’ve never not had a bike in my life. I’ve always loved biking for its ease and speed. Fast forward to my 20’s and you’d find me barcycling to the Bug Jar, around the corner to Lux so that I didn’t have to walk even one block alone, or riding to friends’ apartments to avoid parallel parking/paying a meter. I try to spread the word about Reconnect Rochester’s on-bike classes to everyone I know. Even though I was already a strong rider, the class just helps you feel more empowered to realize biking is transportation too. Be loud; take up space!”
(five posts Jan 5-18, 2024)
Monique Peterson
“My cousin Karen Rogers at EE Pathways got me into biking. I enjoy riding along the Genesee Riverway Trail. I join the Flower City Feeling Good community bike ride series on Wednesdays with Reconnect Rochester and EE Pathways. Also the Unity Ride and with family. Biking is therapeutic! It helps with arthritis in my knee and is just a lot of fun. Through biking, I hope to live a healthier, better life.”
(five posts Jan 19-31, 2024)
Andrea Parros
“What I like about riding is it’s a meditation – you have to focus your attention and maintain total awareness of your surroundings at all times. I stay active while saving on gas, it’s better for the environment and it helps both my physical and mental health. When I’m riding, I love checking out people’s dogs while they’re out walking, and I think it’s fun to spot the bunnies that live in my neighborhood.”
(seven posts Feb 2-14, 2024)
Scot Makai
“I’ve been riding bikes since I can remember. I now ride my bikes for fun on wooded trails with my friends, on the road between parks or to a restaurant in town. I volunteer with the Genesee Regional Off-road Cyclists. I ride trails to connect with nature, to have fun with friends, to challenge my technical riding skills, but mostly to decompress from my workday and experience a surprisingly clear and “quiet” mental flow state. Everyone should ride bikes!”
(six posts Feb 16-29, 2024)
Linda Agnello
“My husband and I sold our house, moved to an apartment in Greece, and purchased bikes in 2012. Being one street over from 390 trail was perfect. I can’t begin to tell you how biking has changed my life. Not only am I stronger physically but also mentally. It just gives me such a high and being with nature and places you can’t access with a car are simply outstanding. I am recently retired so everyday is a biking day. I try to balance home with biking, but biking always WINS!”
(six posts Mar 1-14, 2024)
Robin Hill
“I really started biking when I saw bike riders in my neighborhood every Thursday on the Unity Ride. I was so intrigued by the diverse group of people. I wanted to be a part of that! I joined them and have been riding ever since. Biking is freeing from being behind the wheel all the time. It is a kind of meditation for me. Being out and the sights and sounds really relax my mind. I’m always going to ride but we need more safe places to ride so more people can experience the joy of riding.”
(six posts Mar 15-27, 2024)
Lisa Roberts
“We live in one of the most beautiful bikeable places…I can bike commute from my driveway, ride to my local mt bike park via multi-use trails, and get to the Erie Canal trail via rail trails. Biking isn’t always about the destination. I mix it with other hobbies such as visiting historical places & buildings. There’s lots of cycling groups in Rochester & the surrounding area, try one or all of them! You’ll find there’s more than one you like to ride with.”
(five posts Mar 29-Apr 10, 2024)
Tom Paradise
“I really like to ride on my own but I am a big extrovert and like to plan fun for people. There are great group rides in Rochester, but I wanted to start my own. In 2022 I started Coffee and Cogs 585. I was inspired by coffee.and.bikes for the idea of early morning rides and combining it with coffee. I am a big coffee head and wanted to use this as a way to support the great local coffee scene in Rochester. I love going to group runs with @rocrunningco and wanted to create my own version by bike. We’ve built a great little community.”
(six posts Apr 13-May 8, 2024)
If you’re interested in sharing your story for our 2025-26 #ROCbyBike series, reach out to Jesse at cycling@reconnectrochester.org.*
*Diversity is important to us. So, it may take a while to fit you in the queue so we can make spots for other voices.
For fun on socialmediathis year, Reconnect Rochester posed the following question: What’s a destination, that at first glance, would seem quite difficult & stressful to bike to, but is actually pretty easy *IF* you use a certain route, probably an unintuitive approach or easily overlooked back way? (Definitely not the way you’d drive there). Over the course of this series we hope to inspire and equip more folks to bike to popular destinations, at least in good weather.
Responses have been coming in and we’re excited to share our next several destinations.
Two helpful links before we jump in:
Our ROC Easy Bike map – the easy ways to bike around the area. Many of the zoomed out maps below couldn’t label every street along the way. You’ll get your answers here.
Most of the following maps incorporate the growing Bike Boulevard network. Reading this recent deep dive on the bike boulevards is highly recommended before proceeding.
ROCHESTER’S CITY-RUN PUBLIC MARKET
Our award winning public market is one of the most popular destinations in the area, especially on Saturday mornings. The parking lots are extremely congested but one doesn’t have to worry about that at all when biking there. There is ample bike parking throughout the complex and as long as you have a way to haul what you buy, biking is probably the easiest and most convenient way to get to and from for nearby residents. The City’s bike boulevard network takes riders to the Market comfortably from all four directions. If you haven’t checked it out, definitely enroll in their bicycle incentive program: “Each time you ride a bike to a regular Market shopping day or free-admission special event, you can enter drawings for Market Gift Tokens!”
EAST AVE WEGMANS
Let’s be very clear: University & East Avenues’ intersections with Winton Road need to be made bike-friendly. In the meantime, many folks have easy access to Wegmans via Harvard Street, Colby Street and the bike/ped bridge over 490. From the north, access is pretty easy via the University (north side) and Winton (west side) sidewalk. Though sidewalk riding is not generally advisable, it tends to be fine in instances like this – short, finite stretches with few conflict points. Bike parking at Wegmans is the best! Right up in the front.
*Remember to use the ROC Easy Bike map for more detail on these routes!
THE FREDERICK DOUGLASS GREATER ROCHESTER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
Thanks Doug Kelley for this entry. Unlike so many airports, Rochester’s is quite close to downtown; very bikeable! Brooks Avenue, as it’s currently configured, is uncomfortable to bike on but there’s another way to access the airport by bike. Just take the Genesee Valley Greenway southbound from the Genesee Valley Sports Complex (131 Elmwood Ave). There’s a traffic light that helps you cross Scottsville Road to E Airport Road, which is very low traffic and overall bike-friendly. The main parking garage has multiple bike racks, which many riders have found secure. Whereas car parking is $12 per day, bike parking there is free! Granted, biking to depart for a flight isn’t for everybody, but it can be done, especially if packing lightly. Furthermore, access to the airport isn’t just for airline passengers. The airport is an employment hub and many employees can use this way to bike to work in an easy manner, especially if they live in the 19th Ward, South Wedge or West Brighton.
PITTSFORD PLAZA AND WHOLE FOODS
As we explored in this 2021 blog, the newly improved Auburn Trail makes it super easy (and downright delightful!) to bike to Pittsford Plaza, Whole Foods – heck, even the PGA when they’re in town. Getting there does require biking on Highland Ave for a tiny bit. Most riders can bike on Highland over 590 with no trouble. Once past Clover, there are multiple lights and crosswalks that allow you to cross Monroe to visit destinations such as Barnes & Noble and Trader Joes.
NAZARETH (AND ST JOHN FISHER TOO!)
Thanks Tim Franz for this entry. Similar to the map above, if you go just a bit further along the Auburn Trail past Pittsford Plaza, you’ll come to French Road. A nice sidepath there takes you straight to Nazareth University. St John Fisher is just a short ride along East Avenue, which has shoulders.
In our climate, most people ride bikes in the Spring, Summer and Fall and that’s okay! When the cycling scene slows down in November, our cycling Instagram account would go almost completely dark for several months. The thought struck us in 2019 that we could use that season to feature guest contributions from area cyclists. It would be a fun way to celebrate biking in Rochester. Contributors could give us a glimpse of their biking lifestyle, what it means to them, what got them into riding, their favorite places to ride and groups to ride with, etc. It’s become a neat way for cyclists who bike in different ways for different reasons to find commonality.
The #ROCbyBike series has been a hit! To see our recap of the first three seasons, read here.
We are proud to present below consolidated stories of our contributors from season 4. We hope it inspires you to get out and ride!
Ronnie McCrea
“Several years ago, I ran into an old friend who enjoyed bike riding and after several not-too-subtle hints, she convinced me to purchase a bike so we could ride together. The rest is history! I had no idea there were so many trails. Riding my bike allows me to clear my mind. An added benefit is an opportunity to exercise because as I age, I want to be more active. Participating in the Flower City Feeling Good bike rides on Wednesdays with Reconnect Rochester and EE Pathways has introduced me to a great group of people. It amazes me how diverse this group is with young, old, beginners and true cyclists. The best part of riding with the group is riding through the city, kids joining in, and drivers cheering us on by honking their horns. I am so happy I was reintroduced to one of my childhood favorite pastimes – riding my bike.”
(six posts Nov 11-23, 2022)
Lori Burch
“It wasn’t until the arrival of grandchildren that I got back on a bike. Part of cycling is inherently social. Riding with various bike groups since then helped me to improve my skills, to find new places to ride, and led to making so many new friendships! We have so many beautiful, quiet, country roads to ride on in our area, along with many wonderful nature trails. Riding helps me shed whatever worries and stresses I might be carrying and puts my soul back at peace! Miles in these locations are indeed my meditation!”
-(seven posts Nov 25-Dec 7, 2022)
Barry Cherney
“Spontaneous ride on a hot Summer eve. I start out aimless, go where I please. The sun beckons me to get a shot. So to the bay I pedal, aimless I’m not. To the point I ride, swift of pedal. Rubber rolling, gears of metal. Will I make it in time, the sun is sinking. Faster I go, faster I’m thinking. I look over my shoulder to see the sphere. Lower it gets, miss it I fear. I make the spot, I beat the sun. I get the shot, this ride was fun.”
(eight posts Dec 9-22, 2022)
Arlene Sankey
“My parents couldn’t afford to buy a car when they moved to the USA from Taiwan. My mom rode around a lot. I was a super-avid child rider but got back into it as an adult to improve my health. One day, I saw an article in the D&C about the City Recreation Department’s Flower City Feeling Good Bike Rides. This inspired me because I realized how much I had missed all the fun bike rides from my youth. I wanted to go out and have new adventures. To try something different. This is where I first met Richard DeSarra as a bicycle tour guide. Later I decided to form the Deaf Group bike rides for all variety speed levels in ASL (American Sign Language). In doing so, I was able to create a positive and safe environment for not only all Deaf riders but also for our hearing allies as well.”
(eight posts Dec 23, 2022-Jan 5, 2023)
Alexa Harding
“Cycling is my FAVORITE thing in the world to do! I’ve been cycling since 2007 (which is also the year I moved to Rochester) so my love of this city is directly related to my love of cycling in and around the city! I enjoy the multiple mountain bike legal parks within an hour of driving (with 2 being in the city limits), the network of bike paths and rail trails available to us, the numerous bike shops in the area, and the community of cyclists I’ve gotten to know over my past 15 years of living here. It seems that every time I hop on my bike, I run into a friend! I also enjoy biking to the Public Market on occasion, spinning into the city to grab coffee or for an event such as the Twilight Crit, and I’ve been known to ride my bike to the local yarn shop to buy a skein of yarn for my latest knitting project. I even met my boyfriend on a group ride! So it’s safe to say that cycling has infiltrated every aspect of my life and I wouldn’t have it any other way!”
(six posts Jan 6-18, 2023)
Kadie Tower
“I am Deaf with other disabilities including Sacral Agenesis and Klippel-Feil syndrome. I am proud of my rare condition from birth. I loved to ride a bike until I had spine discomfort. In 2022, I got my first handcycle from a grant award. I love it! Handcycling is more arms with the upper body and less pressure on the spine. I love riding on the old Erie Canal Trail. I appreciate its beautiful history. My favorite places to ride are Ontario Beach Park and Turning Point Park.”
(eight posts Jan 20-Feb 2, 2023)
Lee Lejnieks
“I really started riding when I was 8 years old. I had a D&C paper route. Haven’t stopped riding.
Any weather. Everywhere. Ride for fun. Ride for transportation. Ride to work. Ride. Let it rip.
oh — Never trust cars. Ever. Use lights. There are little hidden trails, roads, paths, find them. The canal path, no cars, and it gets you anywhere. Livestrong!!!”
(six posts Feb 3-16, 2023)
Greg Torres
“We are new to the area and just made Rochester our permanent home. What got me into biking as a child was simply the adventure factor. I think being on a bicycle is the closest thing to feeling like you have wings with the freedom to go wherever you want. This is especially true now with my kids: I want them to remember childhood experiences of discovery and freedom that biking gives you. We love riding along the Genesee Riverway Trail to Upper and Lower Falls. What exists below that bridge on Driving Park is amazing. I love how you can loop around and see a rose garden and a waterfall all within a half mile of the trail. Biking is also practical: grocery runs, riding with my daughter to guitar practice, Rochester Red Wings games, the Genesee Brew House, the Lilac Festival, etc.”
(six posts Feb 17-Mar 1, 2023)
Joanna Prescott
“Riding on the roads never felt very comfortable to me but gravel biking looked like fun so I got one and the rest, as they say, is history. I was lucky enough to find the Just For Giggles, Wheel Women of Tryon and @rar.fingerlakes cycling groups. I’m the founder of the Rochester chapter of @the.gravel.collective. The Gravel Collective’s mission is to build a gravel community that centers underrepresented groups that may identify as queer, women, trans, non-binary, indigenous, black, people of color, and para-athletes. Our goal is to make gravel cycling more accessible for all. We have social rides every month and we’d love to see some new faces! We have a lot of great places to ride in and around the Rochester area. My favorite routes often include the Erie Canalway Trail, Genesee Riverway Trail, the Auburn and Lehigh Valley trails. For road rides, I really enjoy riding around the Finger Lakes and last year I completed the Bike the Finger Lakes 11 Challenge.”
(six posts Mar 3-15, 2023)
James Gilbert
“I was born and raised near 12 corners in Brighton and biked to school from 6th grade through Senior year. That carried right into biking to class at SUNY Oswego. Biking was so integral to my life, I didn’t even get my driver’s license until I turned 20! When I started working at Channel 8, I first lived in Neighborhood of the Arts, then North Winton Village: Just a few miles ride into work. I saved many gallons of gas as I biked to and from the studio everyday. Now in Fairport I put hundreds of miles on my bike riding through Egypt, Mendon, and Perinton. I now bike while towing my son Mason to the playground and along the Canal. He begs to go every time he sees his bike.”
(five posts Mar 17-29, 2023)
Jena Cinanni
“I got into biking in college after meeting people involved in Rochester Bike Kids (RBK). We went on a weekly ride and had amazing bonfires and scavenger hunt events. I also got into some road riding with a local ladies group when I worked at Towpath. I would ride the canal to commute and participate in the breast cancer event. These days I mostly ride the local mountain trails. I like the solace of nature and flowing through the trees. I get to practice technical stuff and try new skills. The way I look at it, any biking is good biking. Becoming a bike kid (RBK), and now bike adult (LOL) has led me to meet some of the best people of my life. I hope everyone finds joy on two wheels.”
(five posts Mar 31-Apr 18, 2023)
Marita Smith
“When I was a teen and into my young adult years, I rode my bike a lot, especially over to the 19th Ward where many friends from school lived. Once I was in my 30s, I gave up regular biking. About 5 years ago, I was listening to the radio and I heard an interview about the organization, @blackgirlsdobike. They mentioned local chapters and I thought “No way does Rochester have a chapter”. I was pleasantly surprised that there is a local chapter and they are active. I finally attended an event and I haven’t looked back since. Not only was my love of biking reignited, I met a new sisterhood and an entire biking community! Through biking, I even reconnected with two friends I haven’t seen since the 8th grade.”
(three posts Apr 21-28, 2023)
If you’re interested in sharing your story for our 2024-25 #ROCbyBike series, reach out to Jesse at cycling@reconnectrochester.org.*
*Diversity is important to us. So, it may take a while to fit you in the queue so we can make spots for other voices.
By: Rob Sliker President, Genesee Regional Off-road Cyclists
The Irondequoit Bay Park System is a natural gem within Monroe County, providing residents access to some of the region’s most beautiful and diverse landscapes. Yet, despite their value, these parks remain underutilized by many who would benefit most. The reason? Each park exists in isolation, with fragmented and informal trails that don’t offer the continuity needed for a comprehensive outdoor experience. We have the opportunity to advocate for the parks to be interconnected by professionally constructed trails that provide seamless off-road connectivity to cyclists for both recreation and active transportation.
Imagine a future where everyone—beginners, families, adaptive users with disabilities—can easily access and enjoy these spaces through a well-planned, connected trail network.
This vision extends beyond recreation; it’s about building resilience to climate change by giving people more access to green spaces and sustainable transportation options. The recently adopted Monroe County Community-Wide Climate Action Plan emphasizes the need for climate adaptation, and trails can be a key part of this effort. By enabling people to use trails for transportation between destinations, we reduce carbon emissions while promoting a healthier, more active lifestyle.
Currently, many trails within the Irondequoit Bay Park System cater primarily to seasoned outdoor enthusiasts. However, these trails are often “social trails”—organic paths not designed with accessibility or sustainability in mind. As a result, these parks can feel out of reach for beginners, families, or those with disabilities. To serve the entire community, we need inclusive trails—wider beginner trails, well-maintained and suitable for all, from adaptive bikes to beginner cyclists. In addition, having designated learning areas with gentle grades will allow beginners to explore at their own pace. Accessible facilities like bike parks, lodges, and rest rooms are also key. Imagine adaptive equipment rentals, making it possible for individuals with mobility challenges to experience the full joy of outdoor activities. This level of inclusivity will allow the parks to serve a diverse range of users, turning them into spaces where everyone feels welcome.
Connectivity
Equally important is connectivity. The goal isn’t just more trails but a cohesive, well-designed network linking all the parks. With professional sustainable trail design, we can minimize environmental impact, avoid sensitive habitats, and reduce erosion, all while creating arteries that connect the parks. For example, trails can be carefully routed to avoid wetlands and constructed using eco-friendly materials that blend seamlessly into the natural landscape. These trails can do more than provide recreation—they can act as vital corridors that help protect local wildlife by offering less disruptive routes for human activity. This thoughtful approach preserves both the environment and the experience, ensuring that future generations can enjoy these green spaces.
Additionally, these trails can serve as critical connectors within the community, not just between parks but between neighborhoods, schools, and local businesses. By integrating the park system into the fabric of the surrounding area, we can encourage active transportation—walking, biking, and other non-motorized travel. These trails become more than just recreational; they provide safe, scenic routes for daily commuting or local errands, reducing car dependency and contributing to a healthier, more sustainable community.
Implementation
Let’s explore a practical example of what this future vision could look like. Imagine starting from the “Mind the Gap Season 3 Submission #4” trail near Route 104, where users can head south toward Norton Street. From there, the path seamlessly connects into Homewood Road, leading you to Bay Park West. As you continue, the trail links into Tryon Park, offering the option to exit at Tryon Road or continue south. The trails then extend further, reaching Browncroft Boulevard, where users can access Lucien Morin Park. From here, you can either circle back north toward Empire Boulevard or push onward into Ellison Park, with access points at Blossom and Penfield Roads. This interconnected system would transform how residents and visitors explore these green spaces, enhancing accessibility, connectivity, and community engagement.
The vision for the Irondequoit Bay Park System is clear: a future where these parks are accessible to all, thoughtfully designed to protect our environment, and interconnected to maximize their value to the community. But achieving this vision requires your support. Whether participating in the Monroe County trails study, advocating for responsible development, or joining local organizations supporting these changes, you can help make this future a reality.
Together, we can ensure that the Irondequoit Bay Park System thrives as a space where everyone connects with nature, enjoys outdoor recreation, and preserves our green spaces for generations to come.
Make your voice heard and provide your feedback through the Irondequoit Bay Park Trail User Study by Monroe County Parks:
At Reconnect, we’re always working to improve mobility access in our community. Sign up for Mobility Action Alerts for tangible advocacy and volunteer opportunities involving transportation, safe streets, and bike infrastructure.
For fun on socialmediathis year, Reconnect Rochester posed the following question: What’s a destination, that at first glance, would seem quite difficult & stressful to bike to, but is actually pretty easy *IF* you use a certain route, probably an unintuitive approach or easily overlooked back way? (Definitely not the way you’d drive there). Over the course of this series we hope to inspire and equip more folks to bike to popular destinations, at least in good weather.
Responses have been coming in and we’re excited to share our next destination: Parcel 5 and downtown, which are deserving of their own deep dive.
Photo courtesy of Bryan Agnello
Some helpful links before we jump in:
The map below around downtown largely incorporates the growing Bike Boulevard network. Reading this recent blog on the bike boulevards is highly recommended before proceeding.
Our ROC Easy Bike map shows the easiest ways for newer/younger riders to bike and scoot around the area. Riders who’ve developed their skills aren’t constrained to the lines on that map. Want to increase your biking know-how and confidence? Take one of our classes sometime.
It has to be said: At the moment, the easy ways to access downtown and Parcel 5 by bike are quite limited.
More and more bike lanes are being added to Main Street over time, which is great. However, what’s been installed so far at the time of this writing doesn’t meet the criteria for riders of all ages and abilities. Main Street between Goodman and Union is built like a gun barrel (an inappropriate design for a road in any city’s heart) and the bike lanes there badly need protection.
Westbound as you approach downtown, there’s the stressful turn-off to the Inner Loop cyclists have to navigate, and as you head further into downtown on Main, the bike lanes between University and Scio are routinely blocked by parked cars. There are no westbound bike lanes from Franklin to Plymouth (except for over the Genesee). At present, there are no eastbound bike lanes on Main Street from Scott Alley to Aqueduct Street.
Furthermore, it’s unfortunate that the northeast side is bereft of decently comfortable bike connections to downtown. Crossing Inner Loop North on St Paul, Clinton, Joseph, North St, or Union is uncomfortable for most riders.
But don’t despair! Five transformational projects are in store that will change the game in coming years:
With the removal of Inner Loop North and the restoration of the surface grid, intersections can be reconfigured and hopefully the Union Street cycle track can wrap around to Innovative Field.
The gradual building of the ideal Bike Spine Network envisioned in the City’s 2023 Active Transportation Plan. As the Plan clearly states, only protected bike lanes will hit the mark: “It is essential that bike lanes be separated from traffic on high-speed streets that carry a lot of traffic” [along this spine network].
So in the future, we have every hope that bike riders of all ages and abilities will be able to access downtown in ways that are obvious, intuitive, direct, safe and comfortable (no secret backways required!).
In the meantime, here is how we think the average bike and scooter rider can access Parcel 5 without too much trouble.
THE IMPORTANCE OF TRACY STREET
Boy oh boy. Thank goodness for Tracy Street. It’s the only decently comfortable bike connection from the direction of Park Ave and Brighton. After Tracy Street, cross to the sidewalk on the other side of Alexander when the way is clear. Bike north on the sidewalk just a bit and take Chapman Alley west to Union. Yes, Tracy Street is technically one-way traffic eastbound for a tiny stretch, but you’re probably fine biking westbound along it (bike on the sidewalk for a few seconds if you want a clear conscience). We’re hoping the City makes it both ways for cyclists, like you see in the below New York City example (right).
THE WESTSIDE BIKE/PED BRIDGE OVER 490
This bridge grants pedestrians, cyclists and scooter riders easy downtown access from the 19th Ward, Mayor’s Heights and Corn Hill.
THE PORTION OF THE GENESEE RIVERWAY TRAIL ALONG PLYMOUTH
A curious detour of the Genesee Riverway Trail, a vestige of the never-quite completed “Plymouth Avenue Greenway,” runs alongside the Plymouth sidewalk between 490/Utah Alley and Allen Street. More or less a north/south cycletrack, albeit less distinct. While bicycling on downtown sidewalks is generally discouraged, bikes are allowed on this “trail” section of the Plymouth sidewalk.
*Remember to use the ROC Easy Bike map for more detail on these routes!
BROAD STREET
Broad Street doesn’t have dedicated infrastructure along its entirety downtown, but it’s plenty wide, tends to have low traffic volumes and slow speeds, and most folks are capable of biking along it just fine. Take “The Grove at Midtown” cut through below (in between Unwine’d and Dice Versa) to access Parcel 5 from the south. Just go leisurely and be polite, yielding to pedestrians.
THE NORTHWEST BIKE BOULEVARD NETWORK
The Bike Boulevard Network through Maplewood, Edgerton and Brown Square grants very easy bike access from the northwest. This allows riders to bike parallel to Lake Ave without biking on Lake Ave itself (thank goodness!). For the tiny stretch of Plymouth that’s one way northbound (Lyell to Morrie Silver Way), use Verona instead or just hop on the sidewalk briefly.
IN SUM
Whether it’s biking downtown for Fringe or the Jazz Festival, a movie at Parcel 5, a fireworks display, RDDC’s Midday Bash, the Central Library, a hockey or lacrosse game at Blue Cross Arena, or enjoying one of downtown’s many great dining establishments, we hope the routes above get you there relatively stress-free by bike. In the future, because of the many investments being made, you’ll have more direct, obvious and comfortable options. We have a lot to look forward to!
Car Lite Rochester is a blog series that highlights the stories of Rochesterians living a car-lite lifestyle. The term “car lite” encompasses a variety of multimodal transportation lifestyles, featuring little dependence (but not NO dependence) on a car. It typically looks like sharing one car within a household or only using a car when absolutely necessary.
So, we hope you’ll continue to follow along. Maybe you will be inspired to join our bloggers in living a car-lite lifestyle!
For most of my adult life, I got around using the default transportation mode in America: a car. I didn’t own a bike as an adult and never thought about using the bus. I was perfectly content to drive my Honda Fit to wherever I needed to go.
Then, in the spring of 2019, I had a seizure while walking out into a parking lot after a workout. I grew up with epilepsy, but it was well-controlled and I hadn’t had a seizure in about a decade. As I regained consciousness and the EMTs began loading me up into the ambulance, my mind quickly focused on one thing: not the ambulance bill I was going to get or the fact that I just had a seizure again, but that I wouldn’t be allowed to drive for at least 6 months.
You see, when someone has a seizure in New York State, they lose their driving privileges for 6-12 months until their neurologist and the DMV Medical Review Board clear them. I had to go through this once before when I was in high school and I remember how frustrating it was to lose my independence suddenly and be reliant on others for rides.
That’s what I was scared of: losing my independence to get around because I relied solely on my car for transportation. That’s why this is called “car dependency.”
I lived alone, so my mind was suddenly flooded with questions like:
How will I get to work?
How will I get groceries or run errands?
How will I see friends and family?
The options seemed to be:
Get a bike and a use the bus
Depend on friends, family and Uber/Lyft to chauffeur me around
Be stuck at home for 6-12 month
I chose to get a bike and a bus pass.
Adapting to Life Without a Car
The Importance of Walkable Neighborhoods One thing that helped a lot is that I live in a walkable neighborhood in Rochester, the North Winton Village. I didn’t fully appreciate the importance of a walkable neighborhood until I wasn’t allowed to drive.
I live about a mile from Wegmans, walking distance to where I worked at the time (Carlson Cowork), and near plenty of shops, restaurants, and parks. This made a huge difference. Life would’ve been much more challenging if I had lived in the car-dependent suburbs.
Getting around by bike Soon after the seizure, I went to my local bike shop and bought my first bike as an adult, a Trek FX3, which I still ride today. I also made sure to get a bike rack and a set of panniers so that I could carry cargo like groceries (more on that later).
At first, riding my bike on the road around cars was nerve-racking. However, I was lucky enough to find out about Reconnect Rochester’s On-Bike Smart Cycling Class taught by Jesse Peers where I learned how to ride safely on city streets. After taking the class, I was surprised at how much more confident and comfortable I felt biking through Rochester. I highly recommend it!
Getting around with the bus Besides my bike, I began using the bus more regularly to get to doctor appointments and other trips that were too far away or inconvenient to bike. Although the bus was not as convenient as a car, it was nice not to have to do the actual driving in traffic and I could sit and read.
It’s also really easy to combine a bike and the bus with the nifty bike rack on the front of the bus. Or you can bring your scooter. This adds a lot more flexibility to using the bus and it extends the range of a bike, especially on corridors where it’s unsafe to ride. For example, I recently had to go BayTowne Plaza from the city. Instead of biking on Empire Boulevard and putting my life at risk next to four lanes of 60 mph traffic, I rode my bike from my house to Empire Boulevard and took the bus the rest of the way.
Managing Challenges
Busy Roads Early on, I used Google Maps to map out a route to bike on. This would often give me a route that was shortest, but that also included busy roads that were very stressful to ride on, especially with all the giant SUVs and pickups these days.
At the Smart Cycling class, I learned about Reconnect Rochester’s Low-Stress Bike map and the Bike Boulevard Network. These tools helped me plan out a safe, comfortable bike route to get where I needed to go.
For example, riding downtown for me includes a lovely ride down Harvard St.
Groceries I thought getting groceries would be a big challenge without a car, but I quickly realized that a bike is fully capable of carrying a load of groceries. With a set of panniers, I can carry two fully loaded grocery bags with room on top of the rack for more. It’s also easy to hook up a small trailer to carry more and e cargo bikes are becoming more popular options as well.
When I didn’t ride my bike for groceries, it was easy enough to take the bus. I found the bus more convenient than I expected to get to Wegmans, as long as I didn’t stay too long and miss the bus on the way back!
That’s all to say: Good News Everyone! You don’t need an F-250 to get groceries!
Weather The weather also wasn’t as much of a challenge as I had expected. I try to avoid riding during a downpour, personally, but if the roads are wet or it’s only raining lightly, bike fenders and some rain gear go a long way.
Even in the winter, the roads are usually snow-free most of the time. Also, cold weather isn’t as bad as you’d think on a bike, as long as you have the right gear, like pogies to keep your hands warm. Even if it’s chilly out, riding a bike naturally warms you up with the exercise.
In the summer, the challenge sometimes is hot, humid weather. Riding at a leisurely pace helps, but it can be a challenge if I need to arrive somewhere and I don’t want to be all sweaty. This is where e-bikes have an advantage over regular bikes.
Bus Routes A main challenge with taking the bus was that I often needed to make a connection through the Transit Center. This was compounded with the fact that bus headways were often 30 minutes apart or more. Together, this meant that the travel time could be an hour or more by bus instead of a simple 15 minute drive by car. A short errand could take half a day on a bus.
However, if the bus route is convenient, it’s a great way to get to where you need to go. Just use the Transit app to easily see what bus you need to take and buy a bus pass on your phone!
Transitioning to Car-Lite Living and Lessons Learned
Overall, I was able to maintain my independence during those six months thanks to my bike and the bus. After about 6-months, I was cleared to drive again.
These days, I’d say I’m “car-lite.” I get around by bike if I can, but I drive when I need to go somewhere farther away or when the weather is bad and I just don’t feel like biking (that’s OK, too!). In case I have a seizure in the future (a very real possibility), I want to live a lifestyle that’s not dependent on driving everywhere.
[8/29/24 edit: Welp, unfortunately, I did have another seizure last week. Looks like I jinxed myself writing this. In the future, I’ll have to write an update about Car-Free Living Round 2!]
I learned a number of good lessons during this period
1 – The Benefits of Traveling by Bike
First, I realized so many unexpected benefits from riding a bike for transportation, which is why I still ride my bike to get around today. Some key benefits:
Being more active and enjoying the health benefits
Feeling more connected to the community as I bike through it
Improved mental well-being – I always feel better if I get somewhere by bike than by sitting in a car
A major lesson I learned is how important transportation resilience is. If you’re solely reliant on driving for everything, having a car breakdown, a medical issue leaving you unable to drive, or aging out of driving can be a major life challenge. For this reason alone, I think it’s important, both on a personal level and societal level, to make sure different transportation options are available. Just in case.
3 – The Inadequacy of Rochester’s Transportation System for Non-drivers 24% of Rochester households don’t have access to a car, but Rochester’s transportation system is built around the assumption that everyone has a personal automobile and can drive. This largely ignores the transportation needs of non-drivers; people who also need to get around to live life.
When driving was taken away from me as an option, I realized how difficult our city makes it for non- drivers in our community to get around. The main issues I personally noticed were:
Inadequate public transit: too infrequent, lack of connectivity, and lack of amenities like benches and shelters
Lack of a safe, connected network of comfortable bike lanes
Not enough safe crosswalks and crosswalks spaced too far apart
Roads built for moving cars fast at the expense of safety for pedestrians, bicyclists, kids, and other drivers
Signs of Improvement
Despite the challenges for non-drivers, I am excited about the steady progress and improvement I’ve seen in Rochester since 2019.
A (literally) concrete example of this progress is the reconstruction of E. Main between Culver and Goodman, which includes comfortable cycle paths, traffic calming measures, pedestrian islands, and crosswalks. Now, I bike it almost weekly to shop at the Public Market. Yes, bike lanes are good for business!
Reconnect Rochester has been integral to improving transportation options in Rochester and Monroe County. This work is important so that transportation is less of an obstacle for daily living.
Join Reconnect Rochester in making our city and county more livable by expanding transportation options:
Sign up for Mobility Action Alerts to stay in the loop with opportunities of how to advocate for safer streets, bicycle infrastructure, and transportation options
Be part of the change happening in Rochester by getting “multi-modal” yourself and riding a bike, taking the bus, walking, or rolling for your next trip!
At Reconnect, we’re inspired by the stories of people in our community, like Robert Picciotti, Calvin Eaton and Yamini Karandikar, who are passionate about living a car-lite or car-free lifestyle.
Let us know if you want to share your mobility story! What’s in it for you? The intrinsic reward of knowing you’ve inspired others, and a free t-shirt from our online shop! Contact Chaz to submit your story.
For fun on socialmediathis year, Reconnect Rochester posed the following question: What’s a destination, that at first glance, would seem quite difficult & stressful to bike to, but is actually pretty easy *IF* you use a certain route, probably an unintuitive approach or easily overlooked back way? (Definitely not the way you’d drive there). Responses have been coming in and we’re excited to start showing you some of the answers. Hopefully this will inspire and equip some folks to bike to popular destinations, at least in good weather. Of course, over time, as the City and County’s Active Transportation Plans are implemented, we hope the ways to bike to popular destinations are obvious, intuitive, safe and comfortable for riders of all ages and abilities (no secret backways required!).
Two helpful links before we dive in:
Most of the following maps incorporate the growing Bike Boulevard network. Reading this recent deep dive on the bike boulevards is highly recommended before proceeding.
Our ROC Easy Bike map – the easy ways to bike around the area. Many of the zoomed out maps below couldn’t label every street along the way. You’ll get your answers here.
THE SENECA PARK ZOO
Our wonderful zoo is right beside the Genesee Riverway Trail, El Camino Trail, the beautiful bike/pedestrian bridge connecting Maplewood & Seneca Parks, and delightful neighborhood bikeways in Irondequoit. There is a bike rack at the main entrance. Hopefully someday, the Seneca Trail north of the zoo will lead all the way to Lake Ontario on the east side of the Genesee River.
MONROE COMMUNITY COLLEGE
It’s been a common complaint for years: Monroe Community College, our area’s largest institute of learning, is very uncomfortable to get to by bike. Though bike lanes have been installed on East Henrietta Road from Westfall south to 390, the bridge over 390 can be terrifying. Good news though: The Town of Brighton is developing a Multiversity Plan for an accessible, off-road, and multi-use trail system connecting the campuses of the University of Rochester, MCC, and RIT! In the meantime, there’s an easy, though unintuitive way to approach MCC from the northwest. It incorporates the Lehigh Valley Trail’s north branch, Whipple Park, West Brighton and Corporate Woods.
INNOVATIVE FIELD FOR ROCHESTER RED WINGS GAMES
Biking is the best way to get to a Red Wings game! The Pont de Rennes bridge (scheduled to reopen in November) grants bike/ped access directly from the east. There’s plenty of bike racks at both Innovative Field entrances and security is there during games. When the game ends, you’ll be most of the way home before most attendees get out of the congested parking lots nearby.
*Remember to use the ROC Easy Bike map for more detail on these routes!
RIT & LOVIN’ CUP
At least from the north, RIT and Lovin’ Cup are easy to bike to thanks to the Lehigh Valley Trail’s north branch – a bicycle superhighway along an old railroad bed.
TINSELTOWN & GATES HOME DEPOT
File this in the “This ride isn’t for everybody, but it’s probably way easier than you think” category. From Corn Hill, Cinemark Tinseltown & the Gates Home Depot are only 6.5 miles away by bike. Bike lanes are coming to West Main Street. In the meantime, there are bike boulevards parallel to West Main that take you to the Canal and under 390, which isn’t too bad compared to many other highway underpasses. Hinchey and Pixley get you the rest of the way there. Tinseltown has a well placed bike rack. Furthermore, if you want, you can take Loderdale and Brooklea, which parallel Hinchey and are a breeze to bike along.
I adore biking. I have always preferred it to driving. I spent most of my adult life car-free or car-lite until my wife and I had kids. Then I started driving all the time to take them to daycare because I didn’t feel safe traveling with my infant on a bicycle. After a few years, they were toddlers and I finally felt comfortable returning to bicycle commuting.
I opted to transport them in a Burley Bee bike trailer so my kids could sit side by side instead of adding seats to my bike and potentially putting too much weight on the bike frame itself. It’s lightweight, user-friendly, and comfortable to use. I did worry about visibility because the trailer is low to the ground so I got two flags to put on the trailer. They are bright orange with high visibility reflective stripes.
I took my kids on a few practice rides and words cannot express the joy I felt sharing the bicycle experience with them. On a sunny day, you don’t need to roll your windows down to enjoy the weather because you’re already outside. We say hi to our neighbors. We hear kids playing. We can observe the flowers and gardens by peoples homes. We are a part of our environment.
The other day I heard my son in the trailer saying, “Happy. Sad. Mad. Mad. Sad. Happy. Sad.” and I realized he was observing the facial expressions of people in their cars. He said sad and mad a lot and it got me thinking about how dehumanizing it is to be stuck in a car. If someone cuts you off, you feel rage. You don’t think about them as a person. You just see the big machines that you both have to operate. You’re angry because you could have easily been hurt. Driving is a very high stakes activity.
This is especially clear when we see the remnants of car crashes, which are everywhere. Crashes are cleaned up quickly to keep traffic flowing. You don’t really notice the evidence when you drive by but it’s easy to see the bits of broken window and smaller plastic bits when you’re on a bicycle. Being on a bicycle is a constant reminder of how we have normalized road violence with a street design that prioritizes speed above all else.
With this in mind, I worked out the best route to bike to daycare. Fortunately I could bypass Monroe Avenue (which in Brighton is a high speed, four lane stroad) by cutting through neighborhood streets. From there I went on the sidewalk on Elmwood Avenue. I am thrilled that the town of Brighton added a bike lane to Elmwood Avenue. When I bike on my own, I use it often. I just don’t like it with my little boys in a trailer. Ironically I had spent some time defending this bike lane on NextDoor neighborhood threads. I’m happy we have it, I’m just eager to keep improving bicycle access.
The final part of the journey is the one my wife and I spent the most time discussing and the part of the journey that makes me the most nervous. It is such a small yet very significant part of the journey. Just a couple hundred feet.
It involves crossing South Clinton Avenue at Elmwood. Intersections create a lot of variables. I have had minimal incidents and only two collisions in more than ten years of biking by assuming a driver doesn’t see me until I see eye contact or a signal from them. I have yielded several times despite having the right of way and I’m almost always correct that the driver did not see me. Sometimes they notice at the last second and seem startled or give an “I’m sorry” wave.
I am more annoyed with the road designs than the driver. I would like to see our roads designed with protected bike lanes and traffic calming measures to make it impossible to drive recklessly as opposed to relying on drivers to make the correct choice.
[EDIT: I have since begun avoiding this intersection by using Lac De Ville Blvd and turning on to Rue De Ville before crossing South Clinton. Thanks to Reconnect Rochester’s Easy Bike Map for the tip!]
Still, it has been a transformative experience for me as a parent. My boys love the bike trailer. The first day I dropped my 3 year old off at his classroom a few kids wanted to know why he had a helmet. He proudly told them he got there in a bike trailer. The kids started excitedly talking about their bicycles and their helmets that they have at home.
I rode him in the rain the next day. The Burley trailer has a great rain cover so he doesn’t get a drop of water on him. I have a good raincoat and I change my pants at work so it’s no big deal for me either. My brother who lives in the Netherlands says the parents there like to say, “Are you made of sugar? Why are you scared of a little water?”
Other parents at the daycare frequently comment on the trailer when we roll in. Some of them say “that loks nice!” or “I wish we could do that!” I’ve even shared bike trailer suggestions and safe route recommendations with other determined parents.
That’s what is so incredible about bicycle activism. I can talk about it for hours (and have!) but it doesn’t often resonate the same way as just witnessing the joy of little kids experiencing their community, or starting your day with an active outdoor experience rather than sitting in an expensive, noisy, isolated metal box. As I’ve seen from the last few months of biking my kids to daycare, the interest is there but most people just don’t think about it.
I firmly believe we should do anything we can to encourage parents to bike their kids to get around. It would even make things more pleasant for drivers since every bicycle is another car off the road thereby reducing traffic.
If we keep developing a comprehensive bicycle network we could reduce road deaths, create a more trusting and open community, reduce our environmental damage and even give parents a break from driving their kids everywhere when they get older and start activities and clubs. Imagine a bicycle network where 8 and 9 year olds could safely bike to and from school without adults. It’s possible and these communities exist. That could be us too. If we want it.
At Reconnect, we’re inspired by the stories of people in our community, like Chaz Goodman, Robert Picciotti and Yamini Karandikar, who are passionate about living a car-lite or car-free lifestyle.
Let us know if you want to share your mobility story! What’s in it for you? The intrinsic reward of knowing you’ve inspired others, and a free t-shirt from our online shop! Contact Jahasia to submit your story.
The Rochester area is famous for its 20-minute commute. For driving that is. Reconnect Rochester is excited to ask a different question in this blog series: Where can you get within 20 minutes on a bike?
Presenting the seventh in a series of custom “bike shed maps.” For this next installment, we chose where Chili Avenue, Paul Road and Chili-Coldwater Road come together in Chili and are showing how far out in every direction you can get on a bike at a casual but steady pace of 10 miles per hour. This means that if you live anywhere in this green area, you can get to that intersection & its stores/workplaces within 20ish minutes on a bike. Thanks again to Brendan Ryan for his help putting this map together for us.
To get us familiar with this green territory in Chili, here’s Joe Osgood sharing his personal travel-by-bike experiences.
In 2022, I started “returning to the office” after a period of working remotely during the pandemic. I already lived a reasonable bike ride from work, so I decided to try bike commuting regularly. I soon found myself investing in some quality panniers – Ortlieb panniers are worth the price – for both work-commuting and getting groceries. As time has passed, I’ve evolved from a fair-weather commuter, to a rain-rider, to eventually getting studded bike tires for the winter – which I highly recommend! At this point, I’ve been living “car-lite” – tending to lean towards biking as my transportation choice unless there is some reason not to (such as time/distance or dangerous conditions). There are quite a few destinations around Chili I can reach in about a 20 minute bike ride, and I’m able to find routes that have minimal car traffic. I’ll share some of those routes below.
Chili Center
The Chili Wegmans is here, as well as Aldi and Target, and lots more. If you’re approaching from the east or northeast, the best way to approach Wegmans is to sneak in the Paul Rd entrance. It’s less busy than the Chili-Paul intersection, and you get closer to the bike rack between the pharmacy entrance and the main entrance (by the bottle return).
If you’re approaching from the west, you can take the sidewalk next to the car entrance down into the Target lot. These metal bars by the entrance to Target are probably meant for herding shopping carts inside, but they also make a great object to lock your bike to. Bike “parking spots” are often more convenient than car parking spots!
Or, skip the bike rack altogether and get yourself a folding bike you can take inside with you. I got a Tern Link D8 from Bert’s Bikes a few months ago and it has served me well so far. My Ortlieb panniers work fine with the rear rack. I recently installed the Tern Transit Rack so I can wheel it around while folded – a worthwhile investment.
Rochester Tech Park
The Rochester Tech Park used to be busy back in the day, but now it has very little car traffic and is actually great for biking – inside the Tech Park, that is. Unfortunately, the Tech Park is surrounded by “stroads”: Buffalo, Manitou, Elmgrove, and Rt 531. Rt 531 is a highway that forms a geographical barrier comparable to a river – Elmgrove and Manitou being the only nearby bridges crossing it.
The best way to get into the Tech Park by bike is to cross the busy “stroads” at a traffic light, particularly the one at Coldwater Rd. While Coldwater Rd has a moderate amount of traffic, it also has a decent-sized shoulder for most of its length.
To get to Coldwater Rd from Chili Center, most cars take Chili Center Coldwater Rd. While this is the shortest way, it’s also the busiest.
A much better option is to take the Paul Rd exit from Wegmans and immediately turn onto Grenell Dr. Go down Chili Ave briefly before turning into the St Pius X church parking lot, which connects to Chestnut Ridge Rd. Then take Fenton Rd to Westside Dr and finally onto Coldwater. It does make the trip 4 miles instead of 3.5, but it’s well worth it to be on quieter roads.
Buffalo Road Tops
The Buffalo Rd plazas on the other side of 490 have businesses like Tops, Home Depot, and Tinseltown.
Buffalo Rd here is an archetypical “stroad” – high traffic volume moving at dangerously high speeds. The least-stressful way to approach these plazas is via Pixley Rd. While Pixley Rd has a fair amount of traffic, it only has 3 lanes of car traffic instead of 6. It also has a wide shoulder for biking.
To get to Pixley, you could take Chili Ave. An alternative is to go through the parking lot of St Pius X church, as described above, and use Fenton to get to Westside Dr. Westside Dr has less car traffic than Chili Ave. Going the Westside Dr route adds an extra half mile to the trip (4.3 miles vs 3.9 miles).
Chili Walmart
The obvious way to get to Walmart from Chili Center is to take Chili Ave. As mentioned above, Chili Ave is okay for biking – at least between Grenell Dr and the intersection with Westside Dr. You could choose to take Fenton Rd and Westside Dr here, but that will add an extra half mile to the trip (4 miles vs 3.6).
Whichever way you go, you will eventually have to take Chili Ave east of the Westside Dr intersection. East of this intersection, Chili Ave becomes a much busier “stroad”. The sidewalks are the best option when biking this stretch of Chili Ave.
At some point, you will want to get to the sidewalk on the north side of the road. There is a sidewalk branching off this one that goes to Westgate Park, and you can take that sidewalk to avoid some busy intersections. Safely cross Howard Rd at a light, and you’ll arrive at Walmart.
Note: Last I checked, Walmart’s bike rack was rusted out and not trustworthy. Ensure you lock your bike to a secure object. I usually use the fence by the garden center.
City of Rochester
While outside of the 20-minute range, I will occasionally do longer rides into the city or across town. Usually such a route involves getting to the Erie Canal trail. Here’s two lower-stress routes to get there.
One option would be Chili Ave to Pixley to Hinchey. This route avoids the more stressful stretch of Chili Ave between Westside Dr and the Canal. Use caution on the last ¼ of a mile of this route when you are back on Chili Ave, as there are multiple slip lanes and busy intersections to cross. Once you get on the Canal trail, you can easily head east towards Genesee Valley Park and take a bike trail from there.
Another option is to take Paul Rd to the airport and then pick up the bike trail that parallels Scottsville Rd. Between Chili Center and the airport, Paul Rd is fairly quiet. It’s a little busier around the southern tip of the airport. The crosswalk at Paul Rd and Scottsville Rd was recently improved for better pedestrian safety. And the bike trail along Scottsville Rd is very pleasant to ride, between the river and trees (and the fire safety training grounds!).
Ride and rally with us on Friday, May 3rd for the Ride for the Spine, a community ride to support building the Bike Spine Network envisioned in the City of Rochester and Monroe County Active Transportation Plans. Arrive between 2 pm and 2:15 pm at Genesee Valley Park Sports Complex to depart promptly at 2:30 pm and ride to City Hall. Please register so we can have an accurate count: bit.ly/rideforthespine
Confirmed speakers at the rally on the steps of City Hall at 3-3:30 pm:
City of Rochester Mayor Malik D. Evans
Monroe County Executive Adam Bello
Congressman Joe Morelle, NY-25
City Council Vice President LaShay D. Harris, Chair of the City Council Committee on People, Parks and Public Works
Michelle King, Black Girls Do Bike
Cody Donahue, Reconnect Rochester
We bike to get around. We bike to stay healthy. We bike with our families to play and have fun. Biking is good for our planet and our pocketbooks. Our biking community in Monroe County is diverse and vibrant. But what if everyone who wanted to bike could feel comfortable and protected doing it? They could if we made our bike network safe, low-stress and seamless. They could if our community prioritized biking as a mobility option for all kinds of people.
However, we know none of these resources can fix roads where cars travel at unsafe speeds and painted bike lanes that disappear and reappear seemingly randomly. We can’t make up for the almost complete lack of dedicated, on-road bicycle infrastructure outside of the City of Rochester. According to the Federal Highway Administration, for about 60% of people who might otherwise ride their bike, these conditions discourage them from even trying to bike to work, to school or to the grocery store. This is especially true for women, children and the elderly.
To our community’s credit, we are starting to change. Rochester’s cycletracks and Inner Loop East project have been featured in national media, Elmwood Avenue became the first County road outside of the city with bike lanes, and Rochester secured $3.2 million of federal funds to test (among other things) bike lane barriers. These projects are a down payment on what we hope will be the transformation ahead to become a more multi-modal community.
Two key transportation plans were adopted in 2023 that, if aggressively implemented, would significantly expand and transform bike infrastructure in our community. The Monroe County Active Transportation Plan and the City of Rochester Active Transportation Plan (hereafter, the “ATPs”) were completed in a coordinated fashion so that the bike network envisioned in the city would continue out into Monroe County’s towns and suburbs. The ATPs quite literally provide a roadmap for building a bike transportation system throughout Monroe County.
The City of Rochester called the main corridors of their bike network the spine and that is why we are calling our ride the “Ride for the Spine”. On May 3rd, we will Ride for the Spine with bicyclists of all ages and all walks of life and rally together with our elected official partners to demonstrate our support for the work ahead. Our goal is to show there are people from all over Monroe County who support aggressive implementation of the Active Transportation Plans, building a high-comfort and seamless bike transportation network in a matter of years – not decades. Continuing at our current pace will not get us to this goal.
To bring the ATPs’ visions off the paper to reality, our rally will ask the following of our municipal leaders:
Build 8 miles of protected bike lanes to complete the minimum grid now
Don’t wait to build the spine. We can attain a “minimum grid” of north-south/east-west axis bike facilities by installing protected, seamless bike facilities on Main Street from the Erie Canal to Winton Rd. (a 6-mile investment) and by filling in the Genesee Riverway Trail gap north of downtown (a 2-mile investment). These 8 miles are the key to success and must be completed in the near-term. Building good quality bike infrastructure is a small percentage of a repaving project and we should leverage every project to deliver it. But relying only on road maintenance cycles won’t be enough. To accelerate progress, the City and County will need to dedicate funding in their operational budgets, and/or seek dedicated State and federal funding.
Build the seamless, high-comfort bike facility every time
When a road that was envisioned in the ATPs spine is up for repaving or reconstruction, the design must reflect protected bike lanes with connectivity to other parts of the network. Painted lanes only suffice for the envisioned “supporting corridor network” for more experienced riders. Protected bike facilities make all road users safer, including drivers. Low-cost materials are available and widely used nationwide.
Build resilience in the face of opposition
City and County officials: You are doing the right thing by implementing complete streets. They make roads safer for everyone and more inclusive for people of all ages and abilities. Protected bike facilities are cost effective, reduce fatalities & injuries, and get more people biking & scooting, which lessens pollution & congestion, saves families money, attracts and retains young people, acts as a social cohesive, gets residents active & healthy, gets kids outside and results in a more equitable and vibrant community. That’s a lot of checked boxes! Certainly there are trade-offs – mostly underutilized parking spots and slowing cars down. Often we bicyclists are motorists too and we find these trade-offs acceptable. Safety for vulnerable road users must be our prime directive and override perceived inconveniences for drivers.
We can do this together, in partnership, for the betterment of our community. Once again, we hope you will ride with us Friday, May 3rd to support building the bike spine network! Please click the button below to register so we can have an accurate count!
As Rochester cyclists know well, when bike lanes are installed here, they tend to be in isolated stretches, and disconnected from each other. Hopefully that will change as a result of the Active Transportation Plan and its envisioned Bike Spine Network. Today, though, Reconnect Rochester wants to highlight a component of the City’s bike network that isn’t disjointed and is quite well executed: the growing Bike Boulevard network.
Bike Boulevards are residential streets through neighborhoods that parallel primary, busy roads (aka, “arterials”). They are traffic-calmed, particularly by speed bumps, and wayfinding signage is installed for cyclists. Though not all bike riders will be comfortable riding along bike boulevards, most people find them manageable, even pleasant to bike along.
For those who haven’t heard my funny Garson story, I’ll repeat it here. In 2021, Garson Avenue through Beechwood and North Winton Village was made into a Bike Boulevard. One day I overheard some neighbors complaining about the changes and the speed bumps in particular: They exclaimed in anger, “We don’t even drive on Garson anymore!” I had to keep myself from laughing: That’s the point, of course – bike boulevards are supposed to slow down and even deter – car traffic. The speed bumps are doing their job.
In 2015, Alta Planning put a lot of good thought into where Bike Boulevards could be installed. As you bike around, try these purple dotted lines!
Rochester’s Bike Boulevards Plan was created in 2015 and the first boulevard along Harvard Street opened in May 2016.
The first Bike Boulevard along Harvard was celebrated with a ribbon cutting
Phase 1 (2016)
Phases 1 and 2 (2021)
2021 was the year that the Bike Boulevard Network got a significant boost with the installation of phase 2. The City is currently seeking CMAQ funds for the construction of phase 3. Since the Bike Boulevards are centrally planned with an eye towards connectivity, they’re linking to each other when installed. (These maps don’t show the trails they connect to; that’s in part why we created the ROC Easy Bike map.) A vocal minority in a public meeting don’t get to say “no thanks” the way opponents sometimes overturn bike infrastructure on arterials (creating gaps in the bike network).
Phase 3 in yellow
It’s important to note that the City of Rochester doesn’t view bike boulevards as substitutes for dedicated bike infrastructure on arterials. Rather they view the two types of infrastructure as complementary to each other. After all, destinations like workplaces, stores, daycares and such tend to be on arterials. The Active Transportation Plan encourages the City to take more care at bike boulevard crossings and this must be a priority. The Bike Boulevard along Harvard Street for instance is great, but jeesh – have you ever tried to cross Goodman there? Especially with a kid tagging along, it’s tough.
Unfortunately, we’ve been waiting for three years now on the wayfinding signage for the phase 2 boulevards. The pandemic wreaked havoc on the supply chain and Monroe County DOT, which is responsible for installing signage, is short staffed and hasn’t yet had the time to put them in at the time of this blog. Coupled with the fact that the City has not done a press release or ribbon cutting, it’s no wonder why the Bike Boulevards are the low-stress bike network and investment/accomplishment no one knows about.
It’ll be quite some time before phase 3 of the boulevards is complete. My take: Bike along those future bike boulevards anyway! That’s what we do on our Flower City Feeling Good bike ride series on Wednesdays: We amp up anticipation for and increase familiarity with that growing network. Phase 3 boulevards are not traffic calmed yet but they’re definitely bikeable and easier to bike along than arterials with no/disappearing bike lanes.
Here are more reasons why I love the bike boulevards and use them for most of my riding:
With less and slower car traffic, there’s less car exhaust to breathe in. Studies confirm this.
Since residential streets are narrower than arterials, there’s typically more tree shade, sometimes even “kissing canopies.” Thus in the summer, it’s easier to stay cool.
Since the streets are calmer, I take advantage of that by listening to podcasts or music as I ride.
Kids along these streets have safer playing conditions, so there’s more joy in the air; more people on their porches saying hi too.
Granted, navigating the area largely by bike boulevards isn’t as direct. Each ride can be a little squiggly. But I’ve ridden along the existing and future bike boulevards so much the last few years that I know where the turns are without consulting a map or signage. And these minute turns are literally a few seconds on a bike, so you’re not wasting much time “being squiggly,” especially if you’ve got an e-bike or e-scooter. For all these reasons, it’s worth it. My kids and I use the Bike Boulevards a lot – especially when getting to Innovative Field for a Red Wings game.
Some quick notes to end on:
The USDOT estimates “that for an alternative low-stress route to be viable, the increase in trip length should be less than 30%.” My hunch is that most Rochester trips along the bike boulevards will be within that 30% threshold.
As a bike rider’s know-how and confidence grows, they can stray outside the lines on our ROC Easy Bike map. Want to increase your know-how and confidence? Take one of our on-bike classes sometime!
Bike Boulevards aren’t just a City investment! Brighton and Irondequoit are investing in bike boulevard networks too.
To be a great biking city, our bike network and investment can’t be hidden from view (mostly along overlooked back ways). The bike network must be obvious and intuitive to grow ridership. There’s more work to be done and the Bike Spine Network of protected bike lanes must be built.
As you can see on the following map from the City’s ATP, pretty much all of Rochester’s residential streets are low-stress to bike along. So don’t feel like you have to stick strictly to the official Bike Boulevards. Just take care when crossing those major roads in red.
Bike Boulevard roundabout at Pershing Drive & Rocket Street in the Homestead Heights neighborhood
If you’re a cyclist, there is nothing quite like riding on a dedicated bike right-of-way for the first time. In a world where the car is prioritized, new trails, dedicated bike lanes and cycle tracks are rare but welcomed community additives that appeal to those of us who choose or rely on the benefits of biking for transportation.
Over the last several years, my home city of Rochester has installed a number of cycle tracks in key areas:
Along the new Union Street neighborhood (built on top of the former Inner Loop expressway)
At College Town, connecting the University of Rochester campus and Medical Center with restaurants, bars, a bookstore, a pharmacy and more. The track also connects to a “mixed use” trail, which is actually a double-wide sidewalk, connecting the U of R to the nearby suburb of Brighton.
Along East Main Street, connecting downtown to a major residential and mixed-use neighborhood.
Having spent a significant amount of time on these alternative mobility thoroughfares to commute, run errands, and meet up with friends, I’ve learned a lot about the good, the bad, and everything in between. Let’s dig in.
The Union and Howell cycle track connects a residential neighborhood that did not exist ten years ago with major bike routes in and out of the city, bisecting East Avenue, Chestnut/Monroe Avenue, and Broad Street. Along its path is the world renowned Strong Museum of Play (featuring the National Toy Hall of Fame), which boasts more than 600,000 visitors annually.
Also adjacent to the cycle track is a brand new Hampton Inn and Suites, a handful of bars and restaurants, a trendy coffee shop, and and two locally-owned convenience bodegas.
The two major streets that the track crosses, East and Broad, have fully-synced traffic and pedestrian signaling that defaults in the direction of the cycle track. Since the lights are timed, there’s never a need to dismount the bike and press a “beg button” to legally cross either of these streets. Furthermore, and most importantly from a safety perspective, for cars that turn left onto East or Broad from Union Street, there is a left hand turn signal arrow that defaults to red unless a car is position to make a left-hand turn. In essence, riders on the cycle track are prioritized over left-hand turning cars via this signal-controlled scenario.
Why is this last point so important? Because for cycle tracks to be effective AND safe, we need to acknowledge that, when a driver is making a left turn, they are likely looking out for oncoming traffic, not pedestrians or cyclists that they might be “turning into” beyond that traffic. This is a prime reason why nearly all cycling organizations discourage “sidewalk cycling.” Research shows that, when making turns, drivers rarely look beyond the roadway itself for points of conflict. This is why controlling left turns by cars into the path of paralleling cycle tracks with a left-hand turning arrow is an absolute must if the cycle track is to be a truly safer option for those of us on two wheels.
Lastly, the Union and Howell cycle track has relatively few street and driveway crossings. Most of the ones that do exist are either signal-controlled as mentioned above, or low traffic corridors. For cycle tracks to truly be effective, it is important that points of contact with streets and driveways are minimized. Otherwise, as noted previously, it is no different than the risks of sidewalk riding.
The Bad
The Union and Howell cycle track is not concrete or asphalt. Instead, it features a soft surface that mimics that of a high-school track and field consistency. In other words, it actually takes slightly more effort to pedal on this surface, as it absorbs the energy of the wheels on top of it instead of maximizing it. I’ve heard many local cyclists say that they prefer riding on Union Street instead of the cycle track for this reason, entirely defeating the purpose of the progressive infrastructure.
While there is little else truly “wrong” with this cycle track, I would not be the only person to question whether it’s necessary in the first place. While I will NEVER question any project that works to safely and conveniently prioritize cyclists (which this cycle track does!), some green-painted bike lanes on a lightly-traveled, low-speed set of streets that this track parallels would probably have been just fine.
College Town
OK full disclosure, this one is complicated. College Town, a tick south of downtown Rochester, was completed in 2015 as a “new” mixed-use stretch along Mount Hope Avenue adjacent to the University of Rochester academic campus and medical center. It replaced a lifeless collection of dated administrative buildings in an effort to create an exciting space where college students, university and med center employees could eat, drink and gather. While I have at times been critical of the project for a number of reasons, it has, for the most part, stood the test of time.
The College Town cycle track was supposed to be a part of the original plan, but it never materialized until many years after the mixed-use corridor was completed. As a result, there was a bit of a cycling disconnect between the U of R campus and College Town. That was all changed in 2019, when the cycle track was finally installed, connecting Wilson Boulevard (U of R’s main access road) with Mount Hope Avenue.
Furthermore, in the last year, the City of Rochester included a short extension to the cycle track, connecting Mount Hope Avenue with South Avenue, and connecting to the double-wide sidewalk/mixed use path paralleling Elmwood Avenue.
The Good
The cycle track is a much needed piece of connective tissue between the U of R academic campus and the entertainment district that is College Town. College Town also houses the bookstore for the university, a Barnes and Noble on the corner of Elmwood and Mount Hope, adjacent to the cycle track.
The track has very few points of conflict with road and driveway traffic, making it very safe and easy to traverse.
Finally, the College Town cycle track does not exist in a vacuum. It is a piece of protected cycling connectivity to the adjacent suburb of Brighton via the double-wide mixed-use sidewalk that parallels Elmwood Avenue, which also connects to the Highland Crossing Trail and new bike lanes along Elmwood from Goodman Street to Twelve Corners. On the West end of the cycle track, riders can also access the Genesee Riverway Trail, which connects to downtown Rochester to the Empire State Trail.
The College Town cycle track is not just an example of bike infrastructure that connects this to that, but also connects a number of other pieces of bike infrastructure.
The Bad
The one truly negative takeaway of this cycle track is at the point when it crosses from the South side to the North Side of Elmwood Avenue. Cyclists have to push a pedestrian crosswalk button to cross, and while I have never actually set a stopwatch, I am pretty sure that the wait for the light and pedestrian signal to change is 2 minutes.
This might not seem like a long period of time until you realize how frustrated you get as a driver if you have to wait 30 seconds for a light to turn green.
Furthermore, at Elmwood and South Avenue, the cyclist must press the pedestrian signal button to cross or else the signal will display “Don’t Walk” even if the green light signal direction is in the cycle track’s favor. In other words, the cycle track signal does not automatically align with the car traffic signal, which is a fundamental fail if you are attempting to build a high-functioning cycle track.
East Main Street
Just a year ago, the East Main Street cycle track was completed. This was a special moment in cycling infrastructure in Rochester, because this did not service predominantly wealthy white neighborhoods. Instead, the track provided cycling connectivity for mixed income East Main Street neighborhoods between North Goodman Street and Culver Road. For a population that is more likely to rely on bike riding for transportation, this is a step in the right direction.
The Good
Giving bikes prioritized space is almost always a good thing. As I ride on this cycle track, I am grateful to be out of the street, without the fear every cyclist feels with every car they hear approaching from behind. The track connects residents with downtown, and plays host to bodegas, restaurants, East High School and RTS Bus headquarters.
The Bad
Unlike the other two examples in this article, the East Main Street cycle track crosses a tremendous number of residential and commercial driveways, not to mention side streets. Many of the driveways are blind to both the cyclist and a driver that might be pulling out of a driveway or parking lot. In essence, this cycle track is no different than riding on the sidewalk which, as bike experts will warn, replaces the danger of being hit from behind with the greater danger of being t-boned by a driver who doesn’t look both ways before entering a crosswalk or sidewalk (which, from my experience is most drivers).
However, if a cyclist traversing the East Main Street cycle track rides slowly and actively watches for cars with each and every driveway and side street they cross, all will probably be OK. I would argue, however, that the point of a cycle track is to lessen this mindset of the cyclist, not heighten it.
What Do These Examples Tell Us?
Good cycle tracks should, first and foremost, make a cyclists safer. This means finding every possible way to minimize potential conflict points with automobiles. Placing cycle tracks in places where there are fewer driveways and side streets is optimal.
When contact points with automobiles must occur, ensure that there is signaling that either disallows drivers to cross or turn when cyclists have the right of way. These signals should be fully synced and automated such that the cyclists does not have to press a “beg button” in order to safely and legally cross a street. Finally, even if a “beg button” needs to exists, it should give the cyclist the right away in 15 seconds or less.
Signage reminding cars that they are turning into a cycle track that cross the road is also optimal.
The surface of the cycle track should be paved with a hard surface, not one that absorbs the momentum of the bicycle wheels. No one wants to ride on a surface that saps your energy with every pedal.
The track should connect to other bike thoroughfares, including trails, other cycle tracks, streets with bike lanes, low speed streets, and designated bike boulevards. A cycle track that exists on an island is simply for show, not substance.
Finally, cycle tracks should connect people to a wealth of different community resources, including jobs, grocers, retail, healthcare, community services, restaurants, and entertainment. If we are to make biking for transportation a priority in our communities, we have to be thoughtful about the resources that these networks connect.
Cycle tracks come in many shapes and sizes, and it goes without saying that not all are created equal. I personally ride and appreciate each of the “new” Rochester cycle tracks and use them as their design requires. With each concept, we can build on the knowledge from iterations that came before, providing a safer, more practical, enjoyable, and connective experience for the bike rider of all comfort levels and walks of life.
the Union Street cycle track can wrap around to Innovative Field.
