Now $100M – Largest Fed Reconnecting Communities Award This Year – Will Greenlight Construction To Reconnect Rochester Communities That Were Divided By Inner Loop’s Construction, Creating A More Vibrant, Accessible Downtown Along With Good Paying Local Construction Jobs
U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, and U.S. Congressman Joe Morelle today announced a whopping $100 million in federal funding for Rochester’s Inner Loop North Transformation Project to reconnect disadvantaged neighborhoods to Rochester’s downtown. After Rochester said it desperately needed federal support to complete the Inner Loop dream and realize the project’s full potential, the lawmakers launched a united push and Schumer personally urged Transportation Secretary Buttigieg to deliver it, explaining the project would eliminate a major barrier in the heart of Rochester while re-investing in the Rochester communities harmed by the construction of the Inner Loop and creating more jobs.
“Today a transportation transformation begins for Rochester. I am proud to deliver a whopping $100 million from our Bipartisan Infrastructure & Jobs Law for Rochester to transform the Inner Loop, reconnect communities, and pave the way for the next phase of downtown Rochester’s revitalization,” said Senator Schumer. “When we passed the Bipartisan Infrastructure & Jobs Law, I stood in Rochester and promised it would deliver BIG and today a promise made becomes a promise kept. When the Inner Loop was built it cut through the heart of Rochester, fractured neighborhoods, increased pollution, and left scars of systemic inequality that are felt to this day. Federal highway policies led to the creation of the concrete walls of the Inner Loop that held back the downtown from reaching its full potential, but, today the federal government is stepping up to right that historical wrong. With this final piece of the puzzle Rochester’s Inner Loop has the final greenlight it needs to move this project forward.”
Schumer added, “This funding means new safer streets, bike lines, green spaces, and good paying local construction jobs helping lay the foundation for Rochester’s future. We are making Rochester a national model for the future of transportation policy and reconnecting communities. Rochester’s next chapter begins today.”
“This is one of the biggest investments in the transformation of the Inner Loop and downtown Rochester yet, and I’m proud to have advocated hard to deliver it,” said Senator Gillibrand. “This $100 million in funding will revitalize Rochester, promote growth, and build stronger, more equitable, and more livable communities. I’m a proud supporter of this project and I will keep fighting in Congress to deliver for New York.”
“The Inner Loop has served only to isolate neighborhoods within the City of Rochester and hold them back from progress—which is why my colleagues and I have been working to reunify and reconnect our community,” said Congressman Joe Morelle. “I’m proud to have partnered with Senators Schumer and Gillibrand to secure this funding that will bring us one step closer to completing our work and correcting the injustices of the past. I’m grateful to USDOT for prioritizing this important project and I look forward to the work ahead as we continue building a more equitable, inclusive, and prosperous future for Rochester.”
“Today’s announcement builds on our commitment to fully reconnect severed neighborhoods within the Rochester community by filling in the Inner Loop North, which will create direct links to area attractions, world class multi-modal connectivity and bolster economic development opportunities throughout the entire region,” said Governor Kathy Hochul. “This funding will play a key role in making our vision for a fully revitalized Rochester a reality and I commend our federal partners for making such a significant contribution to this transformative project.”
The funding comes from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Reconnecting Communities grant program, which Schumer and Gillibrand crafted and was created in the Bipartisan Infrastructure & Jobs Law Schumer led to passage in the Senate and Morelle boosted in the House. The Reconnecting Communities program was created in part by Senators Schumer and Gillibrand in earlier legislation, and the senators spearheaded including it in the Bipartisan Infrastructure & Jobs Law to help communities, like Rochester, remove barriers like old highways and other transportation infrastructure that has limited connectivity and too often left decay and public health legacies in its wake.
The Inner Loop North Transformation Project will remove Rochester’s Inner Loop and replace it with a new development. The lawmakers explained that the Inner Loop was created in the 1950s and 1960s by displacing communities, many of which are disadvantaged. The project aims to support those communities by replacing a 1.5-mile segment of the grade-separated Inner Loop Expressway with an accessible, multimodal, at-grade network of complete streets. The lawmakers explained this will reclaim 22 acres for equitable redevelopment and green space. The project includes a $123 million commitment from New York State and the City of Rochester to complete design and construction of the project, which the lawmakers say will be a national model for decommissioning aging infrastructure and restoring communities scarred by past transportation decisions.
In June 2021, Senators Schumer and Gillibrand visited the Inner Loop to push for the creation of the Reconnecting Communities grant program, saying it would deliver for communities like Rochester. This builds on years of work by Schumer and Gillibrand to lock in the funding for the Inner Loop, including a key $16.5M federal TIGER grant the lawmakers secured in 2013 to construct the Inner Loop East Transformation Project, that filled in the then-sunken southeast section of the Inner Loop expressway, converting it into an at-grade complete street and opening up 6 acres of new land for development. That federal grant enabled $400 million in new private investment along the new at-grade street including the over $100 million creation of the new Neighborhood of Play, expansion of the Strong National Museum of Play into a national tourism anchor, and construction of over 530 units of mixed-income housing. The Inner Loop East project has been transformative in ushering in new revitalization and investment into the heart of downtown Rochester.
The lawmakers said just as that project to remove the southeast section of the Inner Loop sparked an economic transformation in Rochester a decade ago, today’s $100 million investment will spark an even larger and more profound transformation now for Rochester residents.
“This incredible $100 million investment in Rochester’s Inner Loop North Transformation Project positions our city for lasting progress,” said Rochester Mayor Malik D. Evans. “We are deeply grateful to Senator Schumer, Senator Gillibrand, and Congressman Morelle for their tireless advocacy and partnership in securing these funds. This project will be instrumental in reconnecting our city, healing the damage of the past, and creating bold opportunities for our future.”
Cody Donahue, Director of Policy and Advocacy, Reconnect Rochester said, “This Reconnecting Communities grant secures a vision co-created by the City of Rochester and community members: the transformation of an overbuilt, sunken freeway into a walkable and bikeable neighborhood in the heart of Rochester. Along with the expansion of the Intermodal Station to include buses, the Inner Loop North fill-in will bring greater equity and connectivity to downtown and the surrounding neighborhoods.”
Shawn Dunwoody & Suzanne Mayer with Hinge Neighbors Inc. said, “We are delighted that the Department of Transportation’s Reconnecting Communities Project has fulfilled its mission by awarding the City of Rochester a $100 million grant to complete the Inner Loop North Transformation. This project has been made possible through the alignment of government and citizens in addressing a long-standing decision to remove a highway that has divided our city. We are committed to reconnecting our community in the most effective manner possible through neighborhood engagement, street design and future land use planning that incorporates the voices of our neighbors. We extend our sincere gratitude to Senators Schumer, Senator Gillibrand and Congressman Morelle for their leadership in advocating for this program and to our elected officials for their unwavering efforts in securing its completion.”
“The Inner Loop North Transformation project is about righting the wrongs of the past, bringing our residents together, and opening economic opportunities for historically underserved neighborhoods,” said Senator Jeremy Cooney, Chairman of the NYS Senate Transportation Committee. “That’s why we worked in the state to secure $100 million, which when paired with this new federal investment, will go a long way towards increasing the quality of life for Rochesterians. None of this would have been possible without the backing and relentless support of our federal partners. Thank you to Leader Schumer, Senator Gillibrand, and Congressman Morelle for delivering this funding and prioritizing a more equitable future for our great city.”
Senator Samra G. Brouk (SD-55) said, “The Inner Loop in Rochester has upheld socioeconomic divisions and inequity in our city while causing environmental damage to our community. I am proud to have joined our community in advocating for funding the Inner Loop Transformation Project to correct a historic injustice to our displaced residents, many of whom hailed from predominantly Black and immigrant neighborhoods– thank you to Senators Schumer and Gillibrand and Congressman Morelle for securing $100 million dollars in federal aid to make our city cleaner, better connected, and more accessible to all.”
Assemblyman Demond Meeks said, “I am incredibly thankful to Senator Chuck Schumer, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, and Congressman Joe Morelle for securing the 100 million dollars in federal funding needed to complete Rochester’s Inner Loop North Transformation Project. Rochester’s Inner Loop was not constructed with our communities or their families in mind. It has cut straight through our downtown neighborhoods and denied residents access to jobs, development, and meaningful investments for decades. We must be intentional about reunifying these communities, acknowledging the errors of the past, and showing continued support to the underserved residents throughout the city of Rochester.”
Antonio Apollonio & Martin Pedraza, Chair of the Marketview Heights Collective Action Project Org said, “We sincerely thank Senators Schumer and Gillibrand and Representative Morelle and our esteemed elected officials for their visionary leadership and unwavering commitment to this crucial project. Their support is a testament to a brighter future for the residents of our communities. For far too long, the Inner Loop has tragically severed the fabric of our neighborhoods, casting a long shadow of disconnection and neglect. This funding presents a unique and long-awaited opportunity to rectify this historical injustice and foster equitable development that uplifts our families and addresses the profound harm inflicted by the Inner Loop’s construction in the 1960s. We understand this is more than just a construction project; it represents a chance to fulfill our community members’ long-held dreams and aspirations. We have tirelessly advocated for revitalizing this vital part of our city, and we are deeply grateful for the opportunity to witness its flourishing finally.”
Senator Schumer, Senator Gillibrand, and Congressman Morelle’s letter to U.S Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg can be found below:
Dear Secretary Buttigieg,
We write to express our strong support for a federal Reconnecting Communities Pilot (RCP) grant that will make removal of the Inner Loop North in Rochester, New York a reality once and for all. Successful completion of this historic project will revitalize the heart of the City of Rochester by replacing the Inner Loop North with new development that will benefit residents and neighborhoods upended and displaced by the initial construction of the Inner Loop. This project will be one of the most significant steps toward revitalizing Rochester since we secured a similar game-changing federal TIGER transportation grant a decade ago that finally removed and filled in the sunken Inner Loop East highway section and replaced it with over $400 million in new housing, commercial, tourism, and mixed-use development.
The Inner Loop Expressway is a limited-access beltway constructed in the 1950s and 1960s by demolishing entire city neighborhoods, disrupting residents and effectively creating a moat-like physical barrier that encircled downtown Rochester, stifling development and dividing the city and its residents. By the time it was completed in 1965, hundreds of homes and buildings were destroyed alongside churches, hotels, public buildings, parks and factories, displacing residents of mostly Black and immigrant neighborhoods. Today, the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT)-owned Inner Loop is an aging and outdated piece of infrastructure that does not meet the City of Rochester’s current needs.
When we created the Reconnecting Communities grant program as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) it was with projects exactly like the Inner Loop North Transformation that we had in mind. Infrastructure should build up communities, not divide them, and this Reconnecting Communities grant would help Rochester build up communities that have been divided for too long. The project will restore an at-grade urban street grid, reconnect downtown Rochester with economically disadvantaged neighborhoods to the north, create extensive pedestrian and bicycle facilities, and reclaim an estimated 22 acres for green space and equitable redevelopment. This investment would green-light a plan that the City of Rochester has developed working alongside residents, community advisory groups, and NYSDOT to remove the Inner Loop North and reknit these communities back together to create new opportunities for the thousands of people who live here today by reversing the housing and economic mobility impacts originally precipitated by the beltway.
We know how impactful this project could be, because a decade ago, we secured the key $16.5 million federal TIGER grant to create the Inner Loop East Transformation Project, that filled in the then sunken southeast section of the Inner Loop expressway, converting it into an at-grade complete street and opening up 6 acres of new land for development. This enabled $400 million in new private investment along the new at-grade street including the over $100 million creation of the new Neighborhood of Play, expansion of the Strong National Museum of Play into a national tourism anchor, and construction of over 530 units of mixed-income housing.
A federal infrastructure investment to remove one section of the Inner Loop sparked an economic transformation in Rochester a decade ago and a similar federal Reconnecting Communities investment now can spark an even larger and more profound transformation today. That is why we whole-heartedly request the USDOT strongly consider this application submitted by NYSDOT and City of Rochester to advance this transformational project, eliminating a major barrier in the heart of the City of Rochester and creating opportunities to reinvest in communities harmed by the expressway’s construction.
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