When Rochester City Council meets later this month, one of the items they will vote on is accepting money from the state to move ahead with a study that will look at the feasibility of filling in another part of the Inner Loop.
Mayor Lovely Warren is asking Council to move ahead with a study that would look at the possibility of taking out the remaining north portion of the Inner Loop, after the eastern part of the loop was filled in over the last few years.
Assemblyman David Gantt secured $1 million for the study.
Warren’s letter to City Council says the goal is to extend the success of the Inner Loop transformation project and continue reconnecting neighborhoods with downtown.
Michael Patterson is the Councilman for the Northeast District, and he’s in favor of eventually finding a way to fill in the rest of the sunken portion of the Inner Loop.
“This gives us an opportunity to look at the feasibility of doing it, but more importantly it also gives us an opportunity to sit down and talk to the neighbors that are there, and find out what their interest and their desire is. And so, that’s the real big important part of this.”
Patterson says a project like this could also act as an important symbol of the city’s intention to invest in the northeast neighborhood and spur interest in economic development in that area.
‘It creates jobs and more importantly it creates hope and it shows investment in the community; and for too many decades in the northeast, that’s been something that’s been hard to come by. I’m not going to speak for the entire northeast but I that that as folks become aware of this, they’ll welcome the opportunity to see more growth and development in the district,” Patterson told WXXI News.
Patterson realizes the filling in of another portion of the Inner Loop will take time and money, but he remains optimistic that can be accomplished.
