Center City Tourist - Visitor Circulation and Pedestrian Wayfinding Study

About the ProjectCenter-city-tourists

The City of Rochester hired Bergmann Associates to prepare a plan for improving the pedestrian circulation and wayfinding system within Center City with the intention of creating a seamless, integrated wayfinding experience that strengthens connections to and from attractions, destinations, public venues, businesses, parking and transportation infrastructure for tourists, residents and visitors. The recommendations set forth in the plan will help link together the Heritage Trail, the Center City quadrant signage system, the Genesee River Trail, historic resources and other destinations, attractions and venues. The goal is to attract new visitors and residents as well as new public and private investment to our Center City.

A community’s physical form is its most intrinsic and enduring characteristic. An important characteristic of that physical form includes the concept of “placemaking” and all that makes it work: historic preservation, urban design, transportation, arts and cultural development, commercial revitalization as well as tourism and destination development. An important component of placemaking is the concept of “wayfinding” and the need to provide safe, easy, efficient movement and circulation of pedestrians (particularly visitors and tourists) into, through and within an urban area.

The study area includes most of the Center City District of the City of Rochester, defined as the area within and surrounding the Inner Loop Expressway including the High Falls District. The study was recommended in the 2003 Center City Master Plan and was funded by a grant from the Genesee Transportation Council (GTC).

Project Advisory Committee

A Project Advisory Committee (PAC) was formed for this study, comprised of stakeholders from the City of Rochester, Monroe County, Genesee Transportation Council (GTC), Rochester Regional Community Design Center (RRCDC) and the Rochester Downtown Development Corporation (RDDC). The committee provided valuable guidance and feedback to the consultants throughout the duration of this study.

Project Documents

Project Update - December 2016:

The first phase of implementation of the pedestrian wayfinding signage system will be incorporated into the Main Street Streetscape and Wayfinding Project that is set to begin in Spring 2017. A series of "major" and "minor" wayfinding kiosks will be installed in various locations along Main Street between S. Plymouth Avenue and the former eastern portion of the Inner Loop. For more information on the Main Street Streetscape and Wayfinding Project, visit the project webpage:

Main Street Streetscape and Wayfinding Project.

Questions/Additional Information

For more information about the project please contact Elizabeth Murphy, Senior Planer, at 585-428-6913, or at Elizabeth.Murphy@CityofRochester.Gov