The city of Rochester is planning to hire an organization to roam city streets and determine which are most in need of repair and rehabilitation.
Earlier this week, the city released a request for proposals for a pavement management system. The contractor tapped to do that work would troll Rochester’s 535 miles of city streets, scoring them on pavement conditions. The goal is to determine which streets should be a priority for capital improvement projects.
“It basically tells us what kinds of conditions there are on the ground and gives us recommendations for different kinds of treatments that we want to consider to improve streets,” said David Riley, principal transportation specialist for the city. “And at the end of the day, it's something that we use as we program street projects in the coming years, when we're developing the capital budget for the city, when we're working on grant applications.”
The undertaking is done by the city every five years or so, with the last effort taking place before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Riley also noted that the system is just one tool, and that the city is also reviewing accident data to help bring it closer to some of the goals in ROC Vision Zero. That initiative aims to radically reduce the number of traffic injuries and fatalities in the city. Between 2020 and 2024, Rochester had far and away the highest rate of both total and fatal crashes compared to Yonkers, Buffalo, Syracuse, and Albany, according to the state Department of Transportation.
“We want to look at what kinds of safety issues there might be, and strategies that we can consider to try to address some of those issues,” Riley said.
Cody Donahue is co-executive director of Reconnect Rochester, an advocacy group which strives for more bus, bike, and pedestrian infrastructure.
He said that a street-by-street analysis is a critical step in determining what roads are best equipped for what kind of user.
“We need to look at it from really the big picture of how these changes impact the overall transportation system,” Donahue said. “Which roads need to prioritize more vehicles, which roads need to prioritize everybody who's a user.”
The most visible aspect of pavement conditions for city dwellers are typically potholes. According to data provided by the city, there were 717 reported between December 2025 and March 2026. That marks a significant drop from the 1,426 reported during the same time frame last year. The city attributes that drop to consistently cold temperatures this winter, which prevented cracking caused by constant freeze-thaw cycles.
The pavement improvement plan is not aimed at filling potholes. But part of its goal is street improvements for areas that have poor pavement conditions because potholes have been filled repeatedly.
Responses to the RFP are due May 22. The work is expected to begin in early 2027.
