Episode 2: The Past & Presents of Sidepaths

Rochester was once the capital of the side path movement, a movement to pave dedicated bike paths paid for by all cyclists. By 1901, Monroe County boasted over 200 miles of bicycle side path. Where did the side paths go and how were they created?

Travel back to 1898 to learn about the side path movements origins and legacy in Rochester today with Hear UR.

Transcript

Kwame Edu-Ansah

Sound Engineer

Logan Hood

Producer

Shayna Cliff

Lead Researcher

Quinn Yu

Lead Researcher

Works Cited

“Builders of cycle path.” Democrat and Chronicle. September 29, 1899. https://www.newspapers.com/image/135238138.

City of Rochester. Accessed December 14, 2022. https://www.cityofrochester.gov/bikerochester/.

Gant, Jesse. “Bike Battles: A Conversation on the Road with James Longhurst.” Edge Effects, October 12, 2019. https://edgeeffects.net/bike-battles/.

Ink, Social. “Bicycle Boulevards.” National Association of City Transportation Officials, July 24, 2015. https://nacto.org/publication/urban-bikeway-design-guide/bicycle-boulevards/.

Laber, Rachel. “Best Trails for Biking in Rochester, NY.” Visit Rochester. Visit Rochester, July 10, 2020. https://www.visitrochester.com/blog/post/best-trails-for-biking-in-rochester-ny/.

Leslie White (585) 273-1119 leslie_white@urmc.rochester.edu. “Bike to Work Week Is Coming: Here's Everything You Need to Know.” URMC Newsroom. URMC Newsroom, August 5, 2020. https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/news/story/bike-to-work-week-is-coming-heres-everythi ng-you-need-to-know.

LONGHURST, JAMES. “The Sidepath Not Taken: Bicycles, Taxes, and the Rhetoric of the Public Good in the 1890s.” Journal of Policy History, vol. 25, no. 4, 2013, pp. 557–586., https://doi.org/10.1017/s0898030613000304.

Longhurst, Post author By James. “Persistent Dreams.” Bike Battles. Accessed December 14, 2022. https://bikebattles.net/2015/05/persistent-dreams/.

“Mandatory Sidepath Confusion.” Bike Law, November 12, 2014. https://www.bikelaw.com/2014/11/mandatory-sidepath-confusion/.

Monroe County Library System, NY. Accessed December 14, 2022. https://libraryweb.org/.

“Rochester Bicycling Club.” Accessed December 14, 2022.

https://rochesterbicyclingclub.org/resources/Pictures/RBC-1967-ride-scrapbook.pdf.

“Sidepath Intersection and Crossing Treatment Guide - Michigan.” Accessed December 14, 2022.

https://www.michigan.gov/-/media/Project/Websites/MDOT/Travel/Safety/Road-User/Bi cycling/Research/Sidepath-Intersection-Crossing-Treatment-Guide.pdf?rev=0e176c86dac 34470ab7baa688cbce943.

“Topics.” Rochester Subway. Accessed December 14, 2022. https://www.rochestersubway.com/topics/2010/08/rochester-bike-master-plan-not-just-for -cyclists.

“Wheelman of Gates.” Democrat and Chronicle. March 29, 1897. https://www.newspapers.com/image/135269831.

“Wheelman and Wheels.” Democrat and Chronicle. March 11, 1897. https://www.newspapers.com/image/135267985.