Our reporting mission: How do we measure the success of the Inner Loop reclamation?

From Staff Reports
·2 min read

In 1965, when New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller came to Rochester to cut a ribbon to commemorate the completion of Inner Loop highway project, he dubbed it a “national model of a revitalized downtown district.”

More than a half century later, the Inner Loop's value to the region has changed. It is now widely regarded as a glaring example of how America's car-centric growth policies further segregated neighborhoods and interrupted economic opportunities for those living in communities that were razed to make way.

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In an attempt to reconnect the city, Rochester removed the eastern portion of the Inner Loop, replacing it with an at-grade street that has bike lanes. The new road opened to the public in 2017. A similar plan is in the works for a northern portion of the Inner Loop.

Rochester is having a larger conversation on how to center racial and economic equity in its planning of the city's growth and future. The D&C aims to help move the discussion forward, in part, by elevating the voices of people who can show how these decisions to build or tear down impact their daily lives.

To explore this shift in public policy and mainstream attitudes, a D&C team will spend about a month reporting on how the highway's removal is impacting the Union Street neighborhood and how similar plans could shape communities on the north side.

We plan to reach out to residents and business owners in Inner Loop neighborhoods and ask members of our community to share their questions with us.

Here are some of the ones we are already asking.

This concept for the Inner Loop North project, and variations of it, were the most widely supported during public meetings held in June 2021. The city and its consultant are in the process of developing revised concepts that are expected to build off this design.
This concept for the Inner Loop North project, and variations of it, were the most widely supported during public meetings held in June 2021. The city and its consultant are in the process of developing revised concepts that are expected to build off this design.

Has the Inner Loop project lived up to the community's expectations from more than five years ago?

According to the city, the Inner Loop East project was expected to:

  • Improve traffic safety

  • Support healthy lifestyle and improve livability

  • Reconnect neighborhoods with Rochester's downtown

  • Promote development and save money

Who has benefitted from the Inner Loop's removal in the eastern part of the city and how?

And will the $100M promised in March 2022 to finish off the removal of the benighted highway restore and reconnect fragmented neighborhoods?

Meet the team

Follow the D&C: @DemocratandChronicle and Instagram democratandchronicle

Sean Lahman, the D&C's investigative data journalist also covers real estate. Follow on Twitter @seanlahman

Revisiting the Rochester Narrative fellow Madeline Lathrop. Follow on Instagram madeline.lathrop

D&C Social Media reporter Marili Vaca. Follow on Instagram marili.photography

Emerging Audiences Editor Maryann Batlle. Follow on Twitter @maryannbatlle

Help us report!

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: D&C reporting on the outcomes of the Inner Loop East project in Rochester