Concurrent Field Workshops
The field workshops will showcase several of the urban, suburban, and rural trails that contribute to the Rochester area’s renown as a leading regional trail system. Each of the trails were funded in part through the Transportation Enhancements Program. The field workshops will focus on the unique aspects of each trail as well as address approaches to common problems such as right of way acquisition, accommodation of multiple users, adjacent landowner concerns, enforcement, trail surface selection, use of volunteers, funding, and ongoing maintenance.
Advice for Field Workshops
- Workshops will be held regardless of the weather, so be prepared for all conditions. Sturdy walking or hiking shoes are recommended.
- As with any outdoor event, be prepared for encounters with insects and possibly poison ivy. Bring sun protection, insect repellant, and water.
Workshops will be filled on a first-come first-served basis. Workshops may be cancelled if a minimum number of registrants is not met. Please select a first, second, and third choice.
City of Rochester Trails System — From urban to wild along the Genesee River
For more than two decades, the City of Rochester has focused on building a network of trails with the Genesee River as the centerpiece. The city’s growing trail system is helping residents discover the natural beauty and wildness of the river gorge, generate community pride, and revitalize neighborhoods. First stop will be the Genesee Waterways Center in Olmsted’s Genesee Valley Park to view the City’s distinctive, standardized Genesee Riverway Trail signage system as well as the convergence of the Genesee Valley Greenway, City of Rochester Riverway Trail, Erie Canalway Trail, and the blue trails of the Genesee River. As the tour bus follows streets and parks through the downtown, it will pass several of the City’s redevelopment projects which were designed to include additional trails and or the addition of trails on existing bridges. The tour will stop at Rochester’s historic High Falls District for a walk on the Pont de Rennes pedestrian/bike-only bridge overlooking the 90-foot Upper Falls. The bus will also pass by the southern terminus of the Transportation Enhancement-funded Butterhole/El Camino Trail through the ethnic northeast neighborhoods of Rochester before descending the Genesee River gorge to visit the Middle Falls pedestrian/bike trail recently completed by Rochester Gas & Electric. Next stop will be the new 3.4-mile Turning Basin bike/ped bridge that includes a boardwalk extending into the Genesee River. At the Port of Rochester and Lake Ontario, learn about plans for the port and for more trails along the lake, including the Monroe County-funded Sea-breeze trail to the east and the State and City-funded Lake Ontario State Parkway trail to the west. The trip will end with a stop at the new Durand/Irondequoit Bay Trail.
Genesee Valley Greenway — Successes and challenges in developing and managing a 90-mile greenway Join the Friends of the Genesee Valley Greenway, NYS DEC, and NYS OPRHP to experience the successes and ongoing challenges along the 10 miles of trail between the City of Rochester’s Genesee Valley Park and the rural, historic Village of Scottsville. Learn how this unique nonprofit-state agency partnership has worked together for more than 13 years to complete and maintain more than 60 miles of multi-use trail built on a former rail bed and canal towpath. View historic, c. 1840 Genesee Valley Canal-era structures, recently enhanced with richly illustrated interpretive signs, and discover the financial and logistical dilemmas posed by these structures which are such significant historic resources as well as so integral to the structural fabric of the trail. Tour goers will visit a section of trail built along a major highway to view first-hand the difficulties that needed to be overcome as well as the ongoing challenge of crossing a major rail line. In the Village of Scottsville, community leaders will discuss the Greenway’s role as an important community resource and explain how a NYSDOT road bridge replacement project added a trail head and park for the Greenway as well as a boardwalk that links the trail with Main Street shops and enhances walking opportunities for village residents.
Erie Canalway Trail — Creative Design Solutions Visit three locations on the Erie Canalway Trail in the Town of Pittsford where creative design solutions are being utilized to improve trail routing and safety and attract visitors and businesses. At Lock 32 learn how an at-grade crossing of a busy roadway is being eliminated. At Brook Road, see how an undesirable on-road detour around a Canal Corporation/NYSDOT Maintenance facility is being corrected. At Schoen Place, Village of Pittsford Mayor Bob Corby will explain how the Village has taken advantage of grants and other funding to turn its canal waterfront into a popular section of trail lined with bustling shops and businesses and hear what additional improvements are planned to address heavy trail use. The tour will include walks along the trail between each location.
Lehigh Valley and Auburn Trails — Not for profits and local governments working together to create a network of parks and trails Join members of the Mendon Foundation and Victor Hiking Trails to learn how these two successful nonprofits have each partnered with local governments to develop a network of trails and innovative trailside parks spreading across two counties and connecting several towns, villages, hamlets and parks in suburban Rochester. First stop will be Rochester Junction in the Monroe County Town of Mendon to learn how the Mendon Foundation, a nonprofit land trust, Monroe County officials, and town highway departments have used Transportation Enhancement funds and broad based community support to transform 16 miles of the former Lehigh Valley Rail Road (LVRR) Black Diamond line into two separate trails for multiple users and equestrians. See the newly laid rails at Rochester Junction that are now home to an historic LVRR boxcar. After a quick stop at the hamlet of Mendon to see how volunteers have enhanced the trail for the community and hear of future plans for additional historic railroad era enhancements, the bus will head east to the adjoining Ontario County Town of Victor where Victor Hiking Trails volunteers have partnered with local government officials and the local utility to extend the Lehigh Valley Trail an additional 2 miles to intersect with 9 miles of multi-use trail being developed on a former section of the New York Central Railroad. Auburn Trail stops will not only illustrate all phases of trail development from design to completion but also how the community has created a 42-mile trail network that includes hamlets, the village center, several town parks and a hiking trail system.
