To: Bill Destler, President RIT

From: Jon Schull, interim Director, Center for Student Innovation

Dear Bill,

Last January you asked me to help "plan [bicycle] connections to off-campus

apartment complexes and the two Greenway trails." A lot has happened since
then, and some timely and exciting opportunities have emerged.

The now-established Center for Student Innovation is about to become a

terminus of the campus's new bikeway/walkway and a portal to the new Global
Village, itself a potential destination for cyclists from both north and south. At the
other end of campus ,Park Point and The Province are perched tantalizingly
close to the center of campus life and to a scenic bike trail could put RIT, UR,
and downtown Rochester on a scenic 6-mile linear park. We have been studying
these opportunities and think we know how to achieve big gains at relatively
small cost.
 
I think this is a timely and special opportunity for RIT. Since organizing last
October's Rochester Cycling Summit, the Center for Student Innovation has
become a regional thought in sustainable and active transportation. We helped
found the Rochester Cycling Alliance (RCA) and host its monthly meetings, we
helped put the Rochester-Williamsport Greenway on the map for NY and PA
planners., we hosted and helped organize the Sustainable Mobility Fair on May
8, and we demonstrated some radical bicycle designs at ImagineRIT.

As you will see in the attached whitepaper, we continue to promote the under-
appreciated "Rochester Greenway" that connects Henrietta with Downtown
Rochester by way of RIT and the Lehigh Valley North Trail. I served on the City's
planning committee for Erie Harbor Park, and other RCA members are serving
on the City's new Bicycle Master Plan Committee.
You will also see that we have come to understand that our efforts are synergistic
with many others, including obesity prevention, wheel chair accessibility, blueway
development, and efforts to establish RIT, Global Village and Park Point as
recreational destinations and economic development hotspots for the
region. Our grand vision of a winterized bikeway on the Rochester Greenway
has taken a back seat to a grander but more pragmatic vision of a "Greater
Rochester Active Transportation System" (that might someday support a
winterized bikeway).

There are internal and external issues yet to explore, but prospects are good,
and students, faculty, and collaborators on and off campus are pursuing them
vigorously. So it would be a good time for you to provide guidance,
cautions, and assistance.

The attached whitepaper focuses first on our neck of the woods and an
immediate opportunity to do well by doing good. Then it broadens its perspective
to show how RIT's leadership can help hasten a regional and global transition to
a healthier, sustainable future.
Immediate Opportunities for RIT.

It would be surprisingly easy to to establish an RIT "Tweenway" connecting the

Genesee Valley Greenway and the Rochester Greenway. This would make
Global Village and Park Point more attractive destinations, and bolster property
values and quality of life for RIT students, River Run residents and their

neighbors

The RIT Tweenway would be effectuated by implementing two scenic

bikeways
"River Meadow Crossing" and "Park Point Promenade"-- both of which
would build on existing assets.
"River Meadow Crossing,
mapped here and discussed here,
would create a low-traffic, tree lined
route...
 from Farnum Lane
 across East River Dr
 down River Meadow Dr...
 ...to the end...
 across the river
 across Scottsville Rd
 down the road to the Genesee
Valley Greenway
 Here are the most
significant issues
to address next.
o Permissions
and
cooperation.

RIT
  DEC permissions. I am reaching out to our local authorities at Region
8 of the DEC.
 Steve Macintyre, Engineering Inspector at Henrietta Township is
supportive of this plan and has forwarded to the township Planning
Board and to real estate developer David Riedman who owns the land
adjacent to the crossing.
 River Meadow Crossing currently terminates at an open field that
Riedman Associates, is turning into a pond and nature preserve in
connection with some new home development, and utility road that will
go around the periphery.
 We could use help reaching out to Mr. Riedman who has not yet
responded to voicemail or a proposal forwarded by Steve
Macintyre, Engineering Inspector at Henrietta Township. His
daughter is an RIT alum and trustee.
 At the far side of the crossing is an asphalted turn-around on
Scottsville Rd. that used to be a water testing facility owned by New
York State. Across Scottsville Rd from there is a residential lane that
angles conveniently to Coates Road and the Genessee Valley
Greenway. Brian Slack, author of the Genesee/Finger Lakes Regional
Planning Council's recent Blueway Analysis Report will help us assess
zoning and ownership issues when he returns from a trip at the end of
July.
 It should be noted that River Meadow Crossing is a mile northwest of
RIT's Gosnell Boat House and River Run. It looks like it should be
trivial to create a low-traffic bikeway via the utility road to River
Meadow Crossing, and thence to the Genesee Valley Greenway
(assuming a crossing) or to RIT that completely avoids East River Rd.
traffic. (A river crossing at River Run is a possible Plan B.)

o The Crossing
 The site has 10-15 foot banks on either side of the river, and a bank-to-
bank bridge crossing would span a mere 200 feet. A student-built bike
ferry could also be envisioned, but would probably be more expensive
and complicated in the long run.
Park Point Promenade

 "Park Point Promenade" For the northeast corner of campus, establish

more scenic, direct, and traffic-free biking and walking routes from the dorms
and Perkins Green to Park Point. Tom Robinson, one of the architects
involved with our on-campus bikeway sketched some possible paths below (I
added the solid purple line, which might be the most beneficial single-
improvement option.)

The current route from Park Point to the

Lehigh Valley North Branch Trail is via
Brighton Henrietta Town Line Rd. This is
is an acceptable and already-marked trail,
but RIT-owned property directly across
Jefferson Avenue from Park Point might
make a more scenic and appealing. We're
investigating.
Local Connections to the Rochester Greenway.
 As it proceeds north, the Lehigh Valley Trail crosses the Erie Canal and
divides Genesee Valley Park from Lynch Woods, Brighton-owned
parkland now under development with the assistance of Tom Robinson.
Lynch Woods is roughly equidistant from UR, MCC, and RIT, and could
become an interchange and a meeting place for the three schools.
Robinson and I are pursuing a liaison with MCC; contacts and
introductions would be welcome.
Local Connections to Henrietta shopping malls

One of the students working on this project (Amanda Pardee of the Student
Environmental Action League) points out that there is are potential nature trails
and bikeways from The Province to the Market Place Mall(!). She writes,

By starting from within, and reaching out to the immediate community, RIT
can begin to spread its message and philosophy.  The Province, Park Point,
the RIT residence halls, and Colony Manor house a huge portion of RIT’s
students.  Currently, the majority of destinations ideal for students off of
campus are more conveniently gotten to by car.  Jefferson Rd is a very busy
road and the sidewalks in many places are virtually non-existent.  If RIT
were to invest in a path from John Street to Market Place Mall, somewhat
parallel to Jefferson Road, the RIT campus community would have the
privilege of being have the most efficient and clean means of transportation
to major areas of interest.

Preliminary investigation suggests that much of the land behind The Province is
owned by Rokel Development. We will pursue.
Metropolitan connections

The City of Rochester's new Bicycle Master Plan Committee includes

several members of the Rochester Cycling Alliance as well as Tom
Robinson. Although their scope is bounded by the city limits, we are
working with regional authorities to help neighboring municipalities
develop plans that complement and synergize with the City's. To wit, we
recently met with Monroe County Director Andrew Doneger and Rochelle
Bell, environmental planner in the Monroe County Dept of Planning. Bell
is developing a very impressive workshop, and the Genessee
Transportation Council is planning to fund it.

Inspired by these developments and motivated by the Rochester City

Council's injunction that the Mortimer Street Bus Station be designed to
support bicycle connections, the Center for Student Innovation is
promoting the concept of a Greater Rochester Active Transportation
System which can complement and augment Rochester's Mass Transit
system. We have scoped out bicycle boulevards that could interconnect
the Mortimer Street, the Amtrak Station, Upper Falls and the Public
Market, and hope this vision will help us drive the City's transit agenda.
Regional Connections

Similarly, these initiatives will help build the "Rochester Williamsport Greenway"
(so-named by Allen Kerkeslager and myself) that is now getting serious attention
from trail planners in both NY and PA. As reported in
RochesterEnvironment.com,

 "An official in the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (NYSOPRHP) in
Albany recently stated that the proposal for a greenway trail stretching ca. 230 miles from Rochester, NY,
to Williamsport, PA, along the Genesee River and Pine Creek will be incorporated into the next draft of
the statewide master plan for recreational trail development in New York State.  This complements
similar developments in Pennsylvania, where this proposed trail system has already entered into state,
regional, and county planning efforts.  Officials in the NYSOPRHP office in Albany are already in dialogue
with their counterparts in the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (PA
DCNR) in Harrisburg.  Both agencies were attracted to this proposal because of its massive scale and
the connections that it establishes between recreational systems in two states.  Developing the trail
system now enters a new phase because it has finally achieved the status of a broad interstate planning
goal formally supported by the relevant agencies in two states.  Given that many sections of this trail
system are already completed or currently being developed, this adds increased momentum for further
progress in this trail system."
National Connections

Federal Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood has become a serious advocate

for a US Bicycle Route System.
This system will connect urban, suburban, and rural areas. And it will lead to
stronger regional connections as neighboring states coordinate their trails into
routes. ... It will facilitate travel between communities and to historic and cultural
landmarks. It will give people living in more rural areas a way to travel into a
nearby urban area by bicycle. Urban and suburban residents will have better
access to rural recreation areas. And--like our interstate highway system--it will
facilitate long-distance travel by bicycle, whether across one’s state or across the
country.
The USBRS will generate economic activity, reduce greenhouse gas emissions,
and promote a healthier America. And because bicycle infrastructure is relatively
inexpensive, the USBRS can achieve these benefits cost-effectively. It's a win for
states, a win for local communities, and a win for America.

If HR 4722, the Active Community Transportation Act of 2010 becomes law, 40

American Cities will receive $50 million dollars each for the development of
bicycle infrastructures. We are currently working with the Genesee
Transportation Council and RailstoTrails.org to submit a case statement arguing
that Rochester should be one of those 40 cities. The initiatives outlined here will
strengthen our case, and help us establish ourselves as thought leaders in this
worthy cause.

Conclusion: RIT, Rochester, Earth.

This whitepaper focuses on an immediate geo-political opportunity in our region,

but the initiative is clearly part of a global trend. There is an active and
sustainable transportation revolution underway worldwide, and the wave is
sweeping across American cities right now. As of last month, there are bicycle
lanes on Pennsylvania Avenue. In April, Denver launched the nation's first full-
scale bikeshare program. In two years, New York put 200 miles of bikeways on
the ground.

RIT is in a position to lead the region in joining this important movement, and
perhaps to help lead the world. With popular support, our geography,
demographics and climate make us a particularly laboratory for the exploration of
winterized bikeways dedicated to human- and electric-powered ultralight
vehicles. Our greenways are also blueways, sourced by watersheds
watersheds imperiled by the possibility of Marcellus Shale hydrofracking. We
are in a good position to frame the debate and help evaluate alternative regional
development models.
Connecting our new campus bikeway to nearby greenways is a perfect
opportunity for RIT to think globally, act locally, and lead regionally.

Next Steps

CSI' Faculty Lead Carl Lundgren has suggested that the converging
opportunities here are so promising that we should declare academic year
2010-11 "Year of Active Transportation" and roll out an initiative that
celebrates the new paths being built on campus, advances the local propositions
proposed below, and coordinates and stimulates emerging initiatives among
MCC, UR, and neighboring municipalities.