RochesterSubway.com : Think Before You Defend Rochester’s Inner Noose

Think Before You Defend Rochester’s Inner Noose

July 20th, 2010

A recent story in the City Newspaper, “Glamming Rochester’s Gateways” touched on the idea that filling in part of the Inner Loop would help reconnect certain neighborhoods with downtown and improve Rochester’s eastern gateways. Then came the raging comments from readers who blindly defended the inner loop and its many blessings.

One letter sent in from James R. Boehler went like this…

“This proposal is a solution without a problem and nothing more than a waste of tax dollars. Every major city has a center-city expressway to move traffic. How else do you get to your business and entertainment during parades, street closures, and detours for repairs? … Closing the Inner Loop would just drive more business to the “burbs,” including mine.”

And comments on the City Newspaper site sounded like this…

“PLEASE do not fill in the inner loop. I live in the suburbs and I love the inner loop. I hate traffic. I hate traffic lights … Where would the traffic go if the loop didn’t exist?”

Whoa whoa whoa… STOP THE INSANITY! Let’s all take a deep breath here. Have a seat in your lawn chairs while I attempt to straighten this out…

First, let’s make sure we understand one thing: while the plan IS to fill part of the inner loop, the artery itself is not going away. There, now that we’ve got that cleared up, let’s take a closer look at what is being proposed.

The City’s plan is to bring the road surface up to grade-level from about Monroe Ave north to Charlotte Street. Suburbanites can relax. Your conduit to I-490 isn’t going away. But it could be transformed into a pedestrian- and bike-friendly boulevard with reclaimed space along either side for new commercial and/or residential development (maybe even some landscaping).

Where there was once an empty canyon—imagine a vibrant streetscape with brand-new, taxpaying businesses and residents! Imagine the upper Monroe Ave and Park Ave neighborhoods once again connected to the downtown business district. Good lord, imagine anything other than the concrete moat that’s there now.

In his letter Mr. Boehler also argues, “Every major city has a center-city expressway to move traffic.” Maybe so, but when was the last time you were stuck in grid-lock traffic inside the Inner Loop? When was the last time you were caught in *any* kind of traffic?? I digress. I’d just like to point out that nearly every major city in the U.S. right now is considering at least one downgrade of a major intra-city expressway. NYC is wants to shut down part of the FDR Drive to traffic completely. Seattle wants to level it’s infamous Alaskan Way . And closer to home, the NYSDOT is studying options to return Buffalo’s Kensington Expressway to a surface boulevard. The Kensington is much busier and longer than our tiny Inner Loop. So don’t think for a second that this is some kind of radical idea that is unique to Rochester, NY.

As it is today, Rochester’s Inner Loop serves no purpose other than to whisk people away from downtown. It is a barrier between downtown and the promising neighborhoods to the east. It’s bridges and concrete walls are literally crumbling and it is far more expensive to maintain than it is worth. THESE are the problems—and this plan is the start of a solution. I’d like to know what exactly what problem City planners were trying to fix when they decided to level hundreds of homes and businesses to build the inner noose?

Additional Resources: Inner Loop Project TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) grant application

Tags: Alaskan Way, Buffalo, City Newspaper, downtown Rochester, FDR Drive, highway, highways, I-490, infrastructure, Inner Loop, James R. Boehler, Kensington Expressway, New York, Rochester, Rochester NY, Seattle, transportation

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 20th, 2010 at 11:10 pm and is filed under Opinion, Rochester News, Transit + Infrastructure, Urban Development. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

14 Responses to “Think Before You Defend Rochester’s Inner Noose”

twoeightnine says:

July 20, 2010 at 11:18 pm

I wonder when the last time was that Mr. Boehler was actually on that part of the Inner Loop. His law office is at 16 East Main St.

http://www.manta.com/c/mm8941w/boehler-james-r
Josh K says:

July 20, 2010 at 11:48 pm

I have a slightly better proposal for the Inner Loop, especially the section being discussed in this project.

Use the existing trench for light rail. Then deck over it, with a boulevard, park land, new buildings. Have the whole Inner Loop trench turned into a downtown light rail circulator, from which lines branch off of, similar to the arrangement of Chicago’s CTA “El” loop downtown (albeit on a smaller scale). The current purpose of the Inner Loop is to help whisk commuters out to the suburban sprawl lands of Henrietta, Greece, Webster, etc. Instead, we should be orienting our development to focus on making living INSIDE the city a more attractive notion and make living out in the suburbs a downright hassle. A light rail circulator that branches out to the major employers in the area (Mt. Reed Blvd., UofR, RIT, etc.) would make living in new developments downtown a significantly more attractive notion. If people didn’t need to drive into the city and park in order to work, think of all those hideous pay parking lots downtown that could be developed into modern apartment buildings, offices and retail. All of which would increase the city’s tax base, thus helping to better fund schools. With the Inner Loop trench filled with light rail vehicles and decked over, all of the surrounding neighborhoods would be re-connected to downtown AND they’d have improved mass transit (that wouldn’t be affected by our frequent snow storms).

Think of the money that could be saved in building this light rail system by not having to dig trenches. The trenches already exist. The land is already government owned. Use it while you have it.
admin says:

July 21, 2010 at 9:35 am

@Josh, that’s an interesting idea although I’d rather invest in a more visible form of light rail like a modern streetcar circulator. I’ve also heard people suggest that the loop be covered with a road deck with the resulting tunnel used for parking.
Jack says:

August 25, 2011 at 1:12 am

can we focus on real issues like re-opening the changing scenes restaurant!
Jay says:

September 10, 2011 at 5:31 am

2 things: I love Josh’s idea and wish more officials thought like that. There’s no reason why we couldn’t have a hybrid streetcar/below-grade transit option. As is the case with the Broad street tunnel (RIP) use what you got, don’t destroy an asset and regret it years later when you finally think of a use for it. Point #2 – I, and many people I know and work with, use the inner loop to get IN to downtown. The people that use it to leave center city will not stop leaving just because you bring it up to grade level.
Kathy says:

September 15, 2011 at 8:05 am

I have been a city resident and driven the inner loop for many years. Don’t lose sight of the convenience this roadway offers to city residents and ensure viable alternate routes for us. Not everyone wants to be in the burbs or have the city try to replicate one.
Zack says:

December 14, 2011 at 10:37 pm

What I see in the inner loop is Boston’s Big Dig halfway finished. The loop is already dug in. You cover up the loop and you have a highway below, park space above and the eastside and downtown seamlessly connected once more.
jack says:

December 15, 2011 at 11:53 am

INNER LOOP 4 LIFE! I’m glad the bucks got denied and it did not have to come down to me handcuffing myself to the guardrail of the inner loop!
Brian M. says:

January 5, 2012 at 12:44 pm

The only thing that the Inner Loop is really useful for is stretching the legs of my Kawasaki Ninja ZX-6R. Many nights this recent summer I’d go for a couple spins around the Inner Loop. Much safer place since there are so few cars (and cops, heh heh). The Loop is indeed depressing, and obstrusive to the economic development of the city, and needs to go.
RochesterSubway.com says:

January 5, 2012 at 9:17 pm

@Brian, fear not. This project remains a priority for the City. I’m confident it will win funding with the next round of TIGER grants coming up this year. Get your laps in now 😉
hjs06460 says:

January 26, 2012 at 2:00 am

I’m not from Rochester, but this came up in my Google search.

Could someone explain how exactly this road is useful. I’m looking at a map, and don’t get where this is supposed to take you.

The 490 part makes sense, but the rest of the belt is so supremely tiny, it seems rather silly.
RochesterSubway.com says:

January 26, 2012 at 8:44 am

@hjs06460… exactly.
steve zabrisky says:

January 26, 2012 at 3:07 pm

it will take you anywhere awesome you want to go! scio st etc…
Rosaline Equiluz says:

March 7, 2012 at 10:38 am

It’s nice to see that we’re still reading each other. Thanks for listing me! Cheers

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Think Before You Defend Rochester’s Inner Noose

14 Responses to “Think Before You Defend Rochester’s Inner Noose”

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