AMID RECORD-HIGH RATES OF PEDESTRIAN & BIKER INJURIES IN ROCHESTER, SCHUMER LAUNCHES MAJOR PUSH FOR $23+ MILLION TO CREATE NEW SAFER, WALKABLE STREETS WITH DEDICATED BIKE LANES AND MAKE ROCHESTER MORE ACCESSIBLE FOR ALL

Schumer Says Road Injuries & Fatalities In Rochester Are At Alarming Levels; City Has Among The Highest Rate Of Fatalities Per Crash Of Any Midsize City In NY & Saw A Record-High 15 Traffic-Related Deaths In 2023

Standing With Safety Advocates And Recent Traffic Accident Victims, Including An Intern In His Office Who Was Recently Struck By A Car While Biking To Work, Schumer Will Say Enough Is Enough And Detail Plan For New Rochester Road Safety Initiative

Schumer: It Is Time We Put Rochester’s Cyclists & Pedestrians On A Safer Path

Standing at a notoriously dangerous roadway for cyclists, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer today launched his push for up to $23 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure & Jobs Law’s Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) to help create a new safer network of streets for bicyclists and pedestrians in the city after a series of increasingly dangerous accidents. Schumer said Rochester had among the highest rate of fatalities per crash of any midsize city in New York State from 2017 to 2021, with a record high 15 deaths in 2023.

Last year, Schumer secured $3.2 million in federal funding for the city to develop a road safety plan to finally curb this increase in traffic fatalities. Now Schumer is pushing for the final piece of the puzzle with a major infusion of federal cash to implement it, which would allow the city to reconstruct the most dangerous intersections and roadways with pedestrian bump-outs, raised crosswalks, upgraded lighting, creating of a dedicated bicycle “spine network” to link now disconnected bike lanes, and more to give pedestrians and cyclists the safety they deserve.

“Families in Rochester should be able to walk their dogs, bike to work or play in their neighborhoods without having to worry about traffic accidents around every corner. Rochester has seen more pedestrian and cyclist injuries and deaths due to crashes than nearly any other midsize city in New York, but the resources exist to help us curb this trend,” said Senator Schumer. “I created historic funding in the Bipartisan Infrastructure & Jobs Law for building safer streets, and last year I delivered millions in planning funding to imagine a better future for Rochester’s roadways. Now I am pushing for up to $23 million in federal funding to turn that vision into a reality. Thanks to Mayor Evans and the City Council’s hard work we have a great blueprint to reduce the alarming number of traffic-related injuries and fatalities with a network of dedicated barriered bike lanes, new sidewalks, crosswalks and more.”

Schumer explained Rochester sees an alarmingly high number of injuries and fatalities related to traffic accidents. In 2023, Rochester saw a record-high 15 deaths of pedestrians and bicyclists, and an average of 12 people die each year in Monroe County while walking or biking. There is an average of 1.35 injuries or deaths involving vehicles and cyclists a day in Rochester. Just last week, a bicyclist was seriously injured on Child Street and Lyell Avenue in a hit-and-run. Schumer highlighted some recent tragic pedestrian fatalities – including a young boy and resident killed on Park Ave while walking his dog. Even just this week, the senator said one of the interns in his Rochester office was hit by a car while biking to work, but thankfully she had no serious injuries.

The $23 million federal Safe Streets For All grant would:

• Improve traffic safety by adding new buffered or protected bike lanes, curb bump-outs, pedestrian refuge islands, rectangular rapid flashing beacons (RRFBs), raised crosswalks or intersections, improved lighting, traffic signal improvements, and more.
• Increase accessibility so it is easier and safer for people to get around Rochester without driving and improve conditions for residents with mobility aids like wheelchairs.
• Expand transportation options by creating a bicycle “spine network” that would better connect bicycle corridors across Rochester, specifically focusing on major east-west and north-south routes to create a high-comfort, safer, and seamless bike transportation network.

 

“We are fully committed to taking every measure possible to eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries on Rochester’s streets,” said Mayor Malik D. Evans. “We have a host of measures already underway, and the Pedestrian and Cyclist Safety Corridors grant would significantly help us transform our infrastructure so that everyone can navigate our roads safely and confidently. We are grateful for Senator Schumer’s unwavering commitment to the well-being of our community.”

“Loss of life or serious injury as a result of car crashes is preventable, and infrastructure can help play a role in reducing the incidence of these tragedies. To this end, the City of Rochester embarked on an effort to reduce these crashes through its Active Transportation Plan and by adopting a Vision Zero plan this summer. The Safe Streets and Roads for All grant program is a critical tool to advance these measures to support pedestrians and cyclists and foster an environment free from traffic deaths and injuries. That’s why I was proud to write to Secretary Buttigieg urging the Department of Transportation to give full consideration to the city’s application. I will keep fighting to ensure communities throughout New York have the resources to combat dangerous driving and improve critical safety infrastructure,” said U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.

"Everyone in our city has the right to move through our neighborhoods with confidence, security, and peace of mind," said Congressman Joe Morelle. "Far too many families without access to a personal vehicle are isolated with no safe alternative methods of transportation. I'm grateful to partner with Senator Schumer in support of this project to reconnect our community, prioritize public safety, and ensure equity in transportation."

"The City of Rochester has an exciting active transportation plan to build a protected, high-comfort bike spine network in a matter of years, not decades. The cycling community showed up on the steps of City Hall earlier this summer to support cycling infrastructure that allows everyone - from children to seniors - to feel safe and comfortable riding on the city's streets. Getting more Rochesterians on bikes is good for people, good for the planet, and good for community health and wellbeing. Rochester is poised to use of federal safe streets investments to make Rochester a safer, more bike friendly city for all people," said Cody Donahue, Director of Policy and Advocacy, Reconnect Rochester.

Schumer is pushing for up to $23.7 million in federal funding to implement Rochester’s street safety plans. This grant would be the single biggest boost to turning the city’s plans into a reality. Funding would come from the federal Safe Streets and Roads For All grant program, which Schumer negotiated in the Bipartisan Infrastructure & Job law to fund the creation of safety action plans or implementation of safety action plan features. Safe Streets and Roads For All supports regional initiatives intended to prevent roadway deaths and serious injuries.

“I fought for the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure & Jobs law so that we could give communities the tools they need to develop plans for safer streets while creating jobs. This is a sad reminder of how important it is to improve road safety in Rochester, and I’ll keep fighting so that Rochester gets the federal support it needs to make streets safer for pedestrians and bicyclists,” added Schumer.

The 2023 Active Transportation Plan includes an initiative to create a bicycle “spine network.” This spine network will create bicycle corridors along major east-west and north-south routes in Rochester so that it is safer and more comfortable for bicyclists. Currently, there are some bicycle corridors across the city, but they are not connected. Plans to build this network will connect those corridors and make it easier for bicyclists to commute across the city easily and securely.

A copy of Schumer’s letter to U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg below:

Dear Secretary Buttigieg,

I am writing to express my strong support for the City of Rochester’s application for a Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) implementation grant for its Critical Pedestrian and Cyclist Safety Corridors project.

This implementation grant will be critical to the City of Rochester’s long efforts to reverse an alarming trend of pedestrian and cyclists injury and fatalities involving motor vehicles on the City’s streets.  In the City of Rochester between 2017 – 2021, there were 2,475 injuries and 62 deaths involving motor vehicles and pedestrian cyclists and data shows that a pedestrian or cyclist is involved in a crash in the City 1.4 times per day.  To help prevent these tragedies and to boost safety for all road users while creating a more equitable transportation system, the City of Rochester developed its 2023 Active Transportation Plan (ATP) and its ROC Vision Zero initiative. 

This SS4A Implementation grant would provide the biggest single boost to turn the recommendations in these plans into reality to help achieve the goals of:

1. Improved Traffic Safety through improved street design and the addition of road safety improvements to drastically reduce traffic deaths and serious injuries.  This will improve safety for not only pedestrians and bicyclists, but for all users including motorists by reducing the incidents of dangerously speeding vehicles that threaten drivers and pedestrians.  Specifically this grant would fund the addition of new buffered or protected bike lanes, curb bump-outs, pedestrian refuge islands, rectangular rapid flashing beacons (RRFBs), raised crosswalks or intersections, improved lighting, and traffic signal improvements, among other interventions drawn from USDOT’s Proven Safety Countermeasures.  

2. Increased Accessibility – While the majority of City households’ primary transportation mode is their personal vehicle, this funding will support the one in every four households in Rochester that do not have access to a car and instead rely on walking, biking, friends/family, and the bus for daily travel. Rochester also boasts an active biking, running, and outdoor recreation culture with many Rochesterians opting to get around as much as possible without driving, but improvements that will be made possible with this funding are needed to better enable these options.  These accessibility improvements will also address the extremely challenging conditions that now confront residents with disabilities or who use mobility aids like wheelchairs as well as Rochester’s children and youth who are too young to drive and account for 20% of the City’s population.

3. Expanded Transportation Options: This funding will allow the establishment of a bicycle “spine network” that will provide high-comfort bicycle facilities along major east-west and north-south routes in the City that are now lacking. Creating these new connections is key to addressing Rochester’s existing disparate and piecemeal bicycle network.  This investment in pedestrian and bike networks will create a safer, more dignified, equitable, and enjoyable option for people to move around Rochester.

Safety improvements will be focused especially within four high-injury and high-crash corridors in the City of Rochester that were identified in the ATP and included in ROC Vision Zero.  These corridors - North Clinton Avenue, East Main Street, Chili Avenue and Lexington Avenue – are in some of the City’s most vulnerable neighborhoods and alone saw 90 traffic crashes causing serious injuries or deaths between 2017 and 2021 involving 22 pedestrians and 6 cyclists.  These streets are heavily trafficked by residents traveling to work, doctors appointments, grocery stores, school, church, recreation centers, and more.  Safety improvements focusing on vulnerable users are especially critical in Rochester, one of the highest-poverty cities in the nation, where U.S. Census data shows one in four households lacks access to a private motor vehicle. 

The City of Rochester’s proposal developed through an equity lens with a focus on transportation justice, will make Rochester safer and more accessible for people who walk, use mobility aids, drive vehicles, ride bikes and scooters, skate, and ride public transit.  I am pleased to support this application and sincerely hope it is met with your approval.   I appreciate your consideration and if needed please do not hesitate to contact me or my grants coordinator in our Washington DC office at 202-224-6542. 

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