Downtown Rochester's iconic highway, the Inner Loop, is a loop no more.

As part of a multi-year rehabilitation project, a portion of the limited access expressway is being transformed into an at-grade street with intersections. While the expressway was useful when Rochester had a larger population and more traffic at manufactures downtown, the highway was later seen as divisive of the city and there were concerns about the aging 1950s-era ininfrastructure

Recently Google Maps reflected the closure of the eastern portion of the Inner Loop by taking away what was once a full circle and making the loop a lot less loopy.

Rochester Inner Loop
Google Maps
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There is an easy parallel to draw to Utica's Arterial project. The elevated highway was built in the same era, is seen as dividing the city's West Utica neighborhood and is currently undergoing a multi-year effort to re-purpose the highway.

Rochester Inner Loop Deconstruction

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