There are new and refined design options for how the city of Rochester might remake the Broad Street bridge and aqueduct into a centerpiece attraction downtown.
Those will be the focus of public meetings from noon to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the Riverside Convention Center. The public sessions come on the heels of the city kicking off related street improvements in the district.
The six alternatives build on five earlier concepts and include a complete tear-off of the upper bridge. Most seek some level of preservation, and the additional renderings seek to put people inside the design options -- to imagine what activities, water features, even lighting and image projections are possible. There is also an option to do nothing.
"How they want to move, bike, skate, sit, gather, learn, create, exercise, things like that,” said Assistant City Engineer Kamal Crues. “Things that really make the space a vibrant place that people want to come to. The space is really meant to be an attraction for residents and visitors.”
The "aqueduct reimagined" project is largely unfunded, with construction costs likely to top $100 million. But construction remains some time off.
City officials had anticipated settling on a preferred design by this summer. But that timeline is increasingly uncertain as complexities of the project — and the multitude of agencies and stakeholders that must be consulted — become clear.
That said, the next time the city likely will come before the public will be with that preferred design – which makes this “a critical time for people to come out, let their voices be heard about how they want to see themselves in the site,” Crues said.
The focus at this stage is to define potential uses and priorities, including connections to trails and nearby venues, while ensuring versatility, accessibility and ease of maintenance. How the two-story bridge could be re-used will help the city decide and justify what portion of the historic structure to demolish, and which to save, Crues said.
City officials and consultants also are drawing inspiration from popular public draws in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles in terms of lighting, possibly including projecting images on some portion of the structure, and water features.
“We have a number of different versions of water features that could be utilized on the site,” Crues said, “from shallow pools, reflection pools, to spray features, to a number of different opportunities that could allow for people to interact with water and...celebrate that, the history of the Erie Canal.”
