East Main Street Improvement Project

 There are a handful of projects aimed at improving the streetscape of Rochester underway. To a great extent streets make a city, lanes that are too wide encourage faster driving which leads to more automotive and pedestrian mishaps. A lack of separation between the pedestrian space on the sidewalk and automotive space just winds up discouraging people from walking around an area, and of course there's all the subsurface infrastructure, pipes, gutters, electrical wiring, conduit cable, street lighting, etc. that make living in an area safe and sanitary.

The street project I want to discuss right now is the East Main Street improvement project.

This project is a total rebuilding of East Main Street from the water mains and storm drains to the addition of trees and separated bike lanes along the length of the thoroughfare. The specific area of construction is a 0.9 mile stretch of E Main between Goodman and Culver.


This project should be seen in conjunction with the removal of the southeast section of the inner loop and continuing efforts to integrate midtown with points east. Notable points near or along this 0.9 mile section of road are the Public Market, the offices of The Rochester-Genessee Regional Transportation Authority, which runs the RTS bus service around the city, East High School, and a new section office for the RPD and Neighborhood Service Center.

 

 

The project shrinks the width of the pavement, removing on-street parking in favor of adding a cycle track and tree lawn to buffer pedestrians and cyclists from motor vehicles. New decorative street lamps are also being added. Hopefully this project adds foot traffic and increased interest in this section of the city for commercial interests and residents alike.

The estimated total cost of this project is $10 million, which includes and Empire State Development grant of $1.5 million. Construction has already started and is expected to conclude in Fall 2022. The contract for this project was awarded to Villager Construction.

For more information check out the project page from the City of Rochester.

 

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