Inner Loop North: Part 2 - Inner Loop East

In my previous post I talked a little bit about about the loop and racial disparities. This time I'll be a little more methodical, talk about the city layout before, during, and after the inner east was put in and later removed, and then look forward a bit to what to do about the northern part of the inner loop.

Pretty much all the maps in this series are from https://maps.cityofrochester.gov/historic/ check it out yourself!

The Inner Loop project started at Rochester's economic peak, in the 1950s. Rightly understood, Rochester is laid out according to a pentagonal pattern. The Inner loop was made to essentially follow along this pentagon, while connecting to I-490 in the south and west. 490 was built over a canal that connects up with the Erie Canal, and the west, over blocks and blocks of residential houses, more on that another time.



The interchange between 490, the old inner-loop, and the streets of downtown Rochester bulldozed several blocks and is a confusing nightmare of highway design.




 The loop essentially continued across Howell St, and took a big turn to accommodate fast speeds right through the homes of the 12th Ward.



The rest of these blocks would be demolished and consolidated later for the Strong Museum of play, opened in the 1980s. This museum would make a good blog piece simply looking at its footprint in the city, and what it replaced.

Broad Street was extended into the east of the city, joined with Court and a kinda more sensible grid was put in place. But across the now mostly demolished 12th ward and especially in the northern part of this eastern section, across the section of the city between East Ave. and E. Main St. the connection between Union and downtown was severed.

And what of the Eastern loop today? It was closed to the public in December 2014, and at the cost of $21 million, removed to the benefit of the public. In it's place are some plots currently being developed into mid-rise apartment buildings, and a separated bicycle lane.



The neighborhood has a vibrant nightlife. Many of Rochester's top bars and clubs are located near here, including Murphy's Law, The Old Toad and Vinyl. The area is now comfortably connected to the Little Theater and Java's Cafe, closer to downtown.

Next post, I'll actually get to the Northern removal project



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