Bridge to connect the Canalway Trail to Perinton Bikeway - Hikeway.

Perinton is tranversed by two major multi-use trails: the Erie Canalway and the lesser-known Perinton Hikeway - Bikeway (RS&E Trolley Trail).  The highlight of the Trolley Trail is the long, continuous section of rail-to-trail running from the Canalway near Turk Hill Road to the Southeast past Lollypop Farm and ending at the Wayne County Line.  Unfortunately, the Trolley Trail ends at the old bridge abutment you can see from Cobb’s Lane just East of the Turk Hill Road bridge over the canal.  Making the connection from the Canalway to the Trolley Trail requires negotiating heavy traffic on Turk Hill Road and finding one of several poorly marked access trails.

The Town of Perinton has a $1.5M grant to construct a bridge connecting the two trails and make other improvements to the Canalway trail.  The bridge, when completed, will reveal the Trolley Trail to many new users and provide safe and easy access from the Canalway and Fairport Village.  The bridge will significantly increase the value of the existing Trolley Trail to Perinton and to the running community.

The bridge is part of an on-going project to separate the Canalway Trail and Cobb’s Lane.  Some of that work has already been completed, i.e., at the East end of Cobb’s Lane.  The rest of Cobb’s Lane will be rerouted away from the canal to make room for the switchback ramp and bridge abutment on the North side of the canal. 

The bridge will go straight across the canal in a 165-foot span.  A bridge aligned with the existing Trolley Trail was considered but crossing the canal at an angle would take a 240-foot span and would cost several hundred thousand dollars more.  The planned bridge will cross the canal just to the West of the old graffiti-covered railroad abutment and connect to the existing trail via a 60-foot “observation walkway.”
 Bridge Plan View 1.17 Mb
 Bridge Side View 535.71 Kb

The deck of the bridge and observation walkway will be wood planks (same as used on the Turning Basin section of the Genesee Riverway Trail).  The surface of the switchback ramp will be concrete with a maximum grade of 5%.  The deck and ramp will be 10-feet wide.

Schedule
The project is in the draft design report stage.  A public hearing was held in November.  Plans will be ready in May 2009 and construction will start in Fall 2009.  Given that funding is already committed for the project, the town is confident that the bridge will be completed in Summer 2010.