Rochester's transportation remake begins
These are the foundation blocks for changing a downtown and a city.
A new transit center, opening Friday, two blocks off East Main Street. A new train station, opening in 2017 a short distance farther north. And the return of two-way traffic on St. Paul and North Clinton for the first time in 50 years.
Taken together, the projects total more than $80 million in public investment, creating a transportation node, giving the corridor a more connected, neighborhood feel and potentially helping further spur redevelopment — particularly on East Main Street — while moving Rochester into the next generation.
"You can't ignore the transformation that is going to take place with buses getting off Main Street," said Delmonize Smith, the city's neighborhood and business development commissioner. "What you can visualize is a street with a lot of opportunity."
The two-way conversion was sought by the neighborhood as far back as 2007, and will help the transit center function as buses enter and exit off and onto St. Paul or North Clinton. There is talk of a shuttle from the $50 million transit center to the $30 million train station on the north edge of downtown.
There, a new brick and stone building with high arching windows reminiscent of the old Bragdon station will replace a smaller, bland and supposedly temporary building erected in 1977. The groundbreaking was last month but construction is not likely to be in full swing until spring. Space for Greyhound and Trailways would be added in a later phase. Meanwhile, track improvements should allow travel speeds to increase from 55 mph to 70 or 80 mph — not yet high-speed, City Engineer Jim McIntosh said, but making the train more comparable to traveling by car.
"From that point (the St. Paul-Clinton corridor), you can get anywhere in the region without a car," said Mike Governale, president of Reconnect Rochester, a public transit advocacy group. "If I am a younger person, and I don't want to own a car, I want urban living, this is one of those areas that would be really, really attractive to me."
This is where the dots begin to connect, with the redevelopment of Midtown and the Sibley building leading the way in downtown investments and the resurgence of housing and urban living.
On East Main, the city plans to convert bus lanes into parking and make other street upgrades, thanks in part to $1.6 million in recently awarded federal funding. Several bus shelters on East Main will likely be removed this winter, but as many as three will remain as the city explores whether they can be reused, McIntosh said this week. Suggestions have included information kiosks, food and coffee stands or other retail uses.
A previous study looked at a circulating shuttle linking parking areas that some, like Governale, say could be expanded to hotels, venues and the East End for the benefit of visitors and residents alike. Next is to think about and develop other transportation nodes, he said — College Town on Mt. Hope Avenue, alongside the University of Rochester and Strong Hospital could be one — and connect to those.
"One of the issues with markets like ours, traveling from city to city, is when you get to a new market how convenient is the transit infrastructure?" said Bill Carpenter, CEO of the Rochester-Genesee Regional Transportation Authority, or RGRTA.
He points to Chicago, Philadelphia, New York City, where a first-time visitor needn't be transit savvy to get from the airport to their destination without hailing a cab or renting a car.
"We are not (someplace) where someone who is new to public transit can be dropped off and find their way around," Carpenter said. "We are at that edge. The transit center, the new train station, inter-city bus station — it does provide that foundation."
State funding for RGRTA is what it was six or seven years ago, he said, and accounts for 40 percent of revenue. Thus investment has focused on the busiest routes but "foundationally, that limits our ability" to be a regional transportation service, he said.
Traffic has backed up at Main and Clinton northbound during the morning commute, but officials expect that to ease with the transit center opening as it eliminates bus stops that contributed to a bottle neck.
The Clinton Avenue two-way conversion will continue south to Broad Street by next summer.
BDSHARP@DemocratandChronicle.com
About this series
Each Friday, the Democrat and Chronicle will highlight projects that are transforming Rochester. The 10-week series will focus on big developments, from College Town to CityGate and the Inner Loop. But transformation takes many forms, large and small. Share pictures of how you see your city changing on Twitter or Instagram, and tag them #transformroc, or email bdsharp@DemocratandChronicle.com. We'll share some of our favorite photos submitted during the series at DemocratandChronicle.com.
Coming next week: A look at Midtown and the Sibley building.