On Tuesday, Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren canceled work on a Lake Avenue project that would have reconstructed a one-mile section of Lake Ave, starting at Merrill Street near the Kodak building and continuing to a point north of Kodak Park, to change it from a four-lane to a two-lane road. While the move by Mayor Warren has elicited cries of relief from business owners in the area, for Rochester’s residents who were behind the plan, it’s a bitter end to a painstakingly long battle.

The Goal of the Project
Talk of the traffic calming project began in 2008, as safety concerns over this section of Lake Ave. in Charlotte were mounting, spurring a city-led study of the traffic conditions and the dangers posed to locals. Those behind the groundswell of support for the so-called “Lake Avenue Improvement Project” believe that the area’s low traffic and wide-open roads encourage drivers to speed through the area. Speeding is the number one cause of major auto accidents in the United States, many of which result in permanent disabilities and death.

The corridor improvement impact study conducted by the City of Rochester seems to back up many of the project’s supporters’ claims. Multiple accidents have occurred along the proposed construction area, most of which were rear-end accidents and over-taking accidents. While many of the areas within the project’s planned scope have accident levels around or only slightly higher than Monroe County’s average accident levels, both the intersection of Lake Ave with Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, and the stretch between Winchester Street and the cemetery, have accident levels which are many times higher than the Monroe County average.

A Casualty of Politics?
Given that the city’s own investigation seems to support action to reconstruct and improve this stretch of Lake Avenue, proponents of the LAIP are left wondering what went wrong. The answer, it seems, is that it’s just politics as usual.
Since the idea for the renovations began gaining support, both merchants and residents within the Charlotte area have made vocal outcries to Mayor Lovely Warren and State Senator Joe Robach (R-NY). They fear that the lane reduction would slow traffic to the area and lead to a drop in business. Supporters of the renovations are charging that Warren’s order to halt work on the lane reduction is purely politically motivated, since she has already faced criticism from several sectors during her brief time in office.

Even with this complication, Rochester residents looking for ways to improve safety for drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists aren’t ready to give up. Supporters have started an online petition on the well-known petitioning site Change.org. The petition, which seems to be gathering steam, is targeted at Sen. Robach, in hopes of getting him to support the project. Whether the petition or the Lake Avenue Improvement Project it supports will go anywhere, however, remains anyone’s guess.