Democrat and Chronicle.com: Region to make way for bicycles

Like many Rochesterians, Peter LaDolce starts his morning with a 15-minute commute. Unlike most, he makes the journey by bicycle. “If it rains, I’ll still be riding,” said LaDolce, who bikes about 3.5 miles from his Browncroft Boulevard home to his job at Barkstrom & LaCroix Architects on Chestnut Street. LaDolce, 40, has been commuting by bike for 18 years.In 2006, a little more than 1,400 workers older than 16 in the Rochester area regularly biked to their jobs, according to U.S. Census data. The figure, less than 1 percent of the area’s 467,333 adult workers, is up slightly from the time of the 1990 census and 2000 census.

Local bike commuters say their ranks will continue to grow, with more people wanting to save money, improve their health and help cut pollution.

Municipalities such as Rochester and Brighton are trying to make travel safer and easier for them.

This spring, the city received a grant through the Genesee Transportation Council that will mean new bike lanes, signs and parking in Rochester.

The city is determining how best to use this “bicycle enhancement program” funding, which will amount to $200,000 in federal funds and a $50,000 city match.

City planners are considering colored bike lanes and neighborhood bike trail connectors. The program will also likely include signs reminding motorists to share the road and promote safe cycling.

John Thomas, a city transportation specialist, says that the next few years will be devoted to study and design. Construction could begin by 2012.

“It’s our belief that the bicycle is an alternative mode of transportation that should be promoted,” said Thomas, who rides his bike from his home near Cobbs Hill Park to City Hall.

In 2010, the city and Brighton anticipate opening a multi-use trail that would ease travel between Erie Canal Trail in Brighton to Highland Park and the Genesee River Trail. The trail will include an off-road path that is expected to go through Rochester Psychiatric Center and Monroe Developmental Center land.

Tom Low, Brighton’s public works commissioner, said that the trail is part of an effort to provide a network that links Brighton neighborhoods to major destinations and make cars less necessary.

“We realize we aren’t going to take a million people off of the road with this trail, but every little bit helps,” Low said.

The Genesee Transportation Council is developing a new trail that would run parallel to Route 390 in Greece and studying the feasibility of a trail that would connect Riga, Bergen and Byron.

Executive Director Richard Perrin says cyclists can also expect connector trails that will link Greece and Charlotte and the city’s South Wedge and South Plymouth neighborhoods to the Genesee Riverway Trail.

Transportation Council data shows that about 60 percent of the personal trips people make are less than five miles. Perrin said more people would consider leaving their cars at home if there are more of what he calls “expressways for bikes.”

The number of bike commuters older than 16 in the Rochester area, the Buffalo-Niagara Falls area and the national average are all less than 1 percent. In the Syracuse Metropolitan Area and New York City, the figures are a fraction of the minuscule national average. Cyclists make up more than 1 percent of commuters in only two U.S. cities — San Francisco and Sacramento.

Why they bike

Scott Page, owner of Full Moon Bike and Vista on St. Paul Street, says that the number of people who come in asking for commuting bikes has almost doubled each year for the past three years. From April to September, the shop has sold about 15 such bikes.

Some are trying to cut down on the amount of greenhouse gas that motor vehicles create. Others want to exercise more or spend less on gasoline.

Some commute one day a week or put their bikes on a bus in the morning to then ride home. “People who have dress-down Fridays might pick just that day to ride,” said Page, who bikes to his downtown shop from his home in Pittsford.

Other cyclists, such as Emily Lynch and Emily Berke of Rochester, have all but given up their cars. Lynch, 23, who lives in the South Wedge, left her vehicle at her parents’ house in Charlotte and will not be getting it re-inspected.

“People thought it was crazy, but it’s been great,” she said. “It’s taught me to cut down on frivolous trips. … I just do what I need to do.”

Berke, 24, grew up watching her father bike from home on Titus Avenue to his job at Kodak in Greece. She recently moved back to Rochester from New York City, where she saw many people get around on bikes.

“I don’t really feel a need to have a car,” she said.

Jason Crane, a Rochester resident, has started www.rocbike.com to spread information about bicycling and bike commuters in this area. On it, cyclists will find a gas calculator that shows how much they can save by riding a bike instead of driving. According to this calculator, Crane saves $600 a year in gasoline costs by using a bike to travel about 10 miles a day.

Crane, 34, says he appreciates the fact that cycling means less pollution and that he’s not isolated in a vehicle. “I like the idea of traveling quick enough to get someplace, but slow enough to see what’s happening and to interact with the world.”

Staying safe

Bicycle enthusiasts admit that biking around the Rochester area is not always easy. During the winter, some turn to studded bicycle snow tires and fenders to ride on roads that are treacherous with snow and ice.

Even when the roads are clear, bicyclists must watch for motorists who may not be expecting them. Other dangers come from fellow bicycle riders who don’t follow the rules. According to state law, bikes that are ridden between a half-hour after sunset and a half-hour before sunrise must be equipped with a white front headlight and a red taillight. Bicyclists should use hand signals and should never ride against traffic.

Chris Powers, 33, of Rochester has used a bicycle as primary transportation for about seven months. He was riding on Jefferson Road in Henrietta recently when he fell trying to squeeze by a driver who didn’t leave enough room between her vehicle and the curb.

“The busy suburban thoroughfares are really difficult,” he said. “After I fell over, I went up on the grass, but you shouldn’t have to.”

New York law basically grants bicyclists the same rights and duties as automobile drivers. That means a driver making a left turn, for example, should not expect an oncoming bicyclist to yield the right of way.

A number of bike riders complained of drivers who fail to respect bicyclists’ rights to the road and even roll down the window to yell at them.

“People in cars believe the whole road is theirs,” said LaDolce. “So you tend to get a lot of beeps and curse words.”

“One dude actually said, ‘Get off the road, vegan,’” recalled Michael Neault, 26, a Rochester resident who bikes to and from his job as manager of the Dryden Theatre. “People associate cycling with some out-of-fashion granola-esque sensibility. But it’s not outdated, it’s progressive.”

Despite accidents, bad weather and the occasional garbage-filled bike lane, LaDolce, Neault and Powers say biking is a great way to get around Rochester. Kenichiro Sato, who is originally from Sendai, Japan, agrees.

In Sato’s hometown, biking to work, or bringing a bike on a bus and riding home, is common.

From his Rochester apartment, Sato, 28, bikes to his office on State Street, where he is the director of Big Picture Rochester, and sometimes to a part-time job at the Plum Garden restaurant in Pittsford.

“When I came here three years ago, people looked at me very strangely,” he said. “Recently I see more people riding. It’s a good thing.”

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