

By Matthew Denker

[PLEASE NOTE: This was an April Fools posting. Joke’s over.]

RochesterSubway.com has just learned of preliminary plans for what’s being called the Rochester Southern Communities Active Transportation (R-SCAT) project. By building on Monroe County’s original 1947 highway plan, Rochester, Brighton, and Henrietta have agreed to the construction of a new, multimodal connection from downtown Rochester to the New York State Thruway…

First, let’s take a look at the 1947 plan. We’ve highlighted the original, unfinished portion of I-390 so you can compare to the new multimodal “SCAT” plan.

While this might have been a passable plan in 1947, it is now 2015, and we clearly understand the importance of providing transportation options for all citizens.

With the recent active transportation plan being developed in Henrietta as well as the master bike plans for both Rochester and Brighton , the time was right for all three communities to team up and think outside the box.

We’ve obtained preliminary plan documents from NYSDOT and below is an overview of the entire length of the multimodal corridor. A more detailed look at each of the 8 corridor segments can be found at the bottom of the article.

Here is a look at the route…

And here is a typical cross-section of the plan…

As you can see, with dedicated center-running bus lanes and fully separated bike lanes, the pedigree of this multimodal design is light years ahead of other weak “multimodal” construction projects, such as the 202 Parkway in Pennsylvania and the US36 widening in Boulder, CO.

• • •

Jack Moore, Henrietta Town Supervisor says, “this new connection will offer everyone in Rochester, Brighton, and Henrietta better access to one another whether they have an electric BMW or don’t even own a bike!”

With RTS buses running in dedicated lanes every 48 minutes at rush hour and every 120 minutes during off-peak hours, Rochester will finally have the rapid transit system it was promised when the subway was closed in the 1950s. High-frequency, high-quality transit service, all for the regularly low fare of $1.

Sources tell us the budget for the project is expected to be $800 million dollars. Even better is the source of the funding for this much-needed project. We’ve been told that Rochester will be paying only $100,000 for its portion of the road, while Brighton will pay only $15,000 and Henrietta only $500. The remainder of the budget has been committed to by Governor Cuomo and will come from a state windfall of $4.5 billion thanks to a string of legal settlements with banks.

In an email to RocSubway Governor Cuomo says, “For a whopping 20% less than the Buffalo Billion, this new multimodal facility will provide greater access to some upstate city for all citizens while easing the commute for tens of thousands who have waited over 67 years for this plan to come to fruition. I cannot think of a better investment opportunity in all of Western New York (other than maybe STAMP).”

Even RIT President Bill Destler called us up to let us know how excited the RIT community is. “Not since RIT was displaced by the original 1947 highway plan, have we had this kind of opportunity to reconnect with the city that gave us our name. Also, at RIT we are very committed to sustainability. We’re even installing EV charging stations in everyone of our 53 parking lots campus wide. So for us, this multimodal project cannot be built quickly enough and we welcome its direct connection to our campus.”

Based on the generous bike lanes and the superb transit access, we cannot help but wholeheartedly support the expedient construction of this new, multimodal path from Downtown Rochester to Henrietta. My wife and I are already planning to abandon the Corn Hill site for our home and build in Henrietta. This is nothing if not the boost that Brighton and Henrietta have always deserved and missed out on all these years.

• • •

Finally, here are the detailed views of all 8 segments of the new corridor. Connections to local roads are shown as large white rectangles. Each connection will include a bus stop, entrances to the bike lanes, as well as a new, surface lot for no less than 300 cars to allow motorists to park and ride the bus downtown. Segments are numbered from 1, at the NYS Thruway, to 8 at 490 in Rochester.

Segment 1

Segment 2

Segment 3

Segment 4

Segment 5

Segment 6

Segment 7

Segment 8

A few residential buildings will of course need to be cleared, but those are mainly in the City. And we’re told by NYSDOT that an environmental impact study will not be needed due to the added benefits of the new “green” infrastructure. This will help fast track the project. If all goes according to plan, construction will start this summer, and the new I-390A will be open by April 1, 2016.

• • •

Public Input Is Welcome

The public input period for this project is now closed. But you can contact Timothy T. Mills, the R-SCAT Project Manager at 267-354-0465 to give your thanks and praise.

Tags: Active Transportation, April Fools, bike path, bike plan, biking, Brighton, Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), Henrietta, highway, Multi-Modal, multimodal, protected bike lanes, Rochester, transportation, Walking



This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 1st, 2015 at 12:00 am and is filed under Rochester News, Transit + Infrastructure. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.