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I often get asked if there are tours of the Rochester subway. The short answer is no. The longer answer is while there is no official tour of the “subway,” every October there is usually a tour of the “historic Erie Canal aqueduct.” And it’s coming up this weekend…

As part of Rochester’s River Romance Weekend this Saturday, you’re invited to tour Rochester’s most famous hole in the ground. Admission is free and several tour groups will depart from the lobby of the Rundel Memorial Library (115 South Avenue) from 12:00-3:00pm. Though I’m not sure how many tour groups there will be or what times they will leave exactly, because the event web page stinks worse than the subway itself. So if you’re interested in going, play it safe and get there at noon.

Now, what’s the difference between a tour of the historic Erie Canal aqueduct and a tour of the historic Rochester subway tunnel? There is none really. Except that the group leading the tour is the Canal Society of New York State, and they’re pushing to see it filled with water and turned back into a boat canal. Therefore I can’t imagine they’re very interested in playing up the history of the subway.

You and I both know this space has been a “subway” tunnel for nearly as long as it was a canal. With a $66 Million price tag—and in light of another recent proposal to preserve both the canal AND the subway history—I have to wonder the canal idea is dead in the water.

Tags: abandoned subway, abandoned subway tunnel, abandoned tunnel, Aqueduct Bridge, Broad Street Underground, Canal Society of New York State, downtown Rochester, Erie Canal Aqueduct, River Romance, Rochester, Rochester NY, Rochester Subway, Rochester Subway tunnel, subway tour, urban exploration

This entry was posted on Friday, October 4th, 2013 at 8:01 am and is filed under Events, Rochester Destinations, Rochester History, Rochester Subway, Train/Railroad Stuff, Transit + Infrastructure, Urban Exploration. 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.