Rail transit and a canal do not need to be mutually exclusive, however the problem is the city has been pursuing a canal-only option that would preclude any form of rail transit other than short streetcar lines in mixed traffic.   RRTC's official position is that Broad Street can be divided laterally, with one side used for rail transit and the other side for other uses (such as a canal).  This position was taken after a lot of discussion and a lot of work, and it is critical that RRTC members understand and support this position.  Another compromise solution was developed during the Rochester Regional Community Design Center's downtown charette:  maintaining the full width of the surface of Broad while developing a canal immediately south of and adjacent to Broad Street between Washington Street and Main.
 
I have worked very hard to develop a compromise within SECR ("Chill the Fill"), and I worked very, very hard (to no avail) to get the study to chose a "win-win" scenario, but the canal advocates in City Hall have continually pushed the study in an uncompromising canal-only direction.  I have exhausted myself trying to get to a workable scenario, but the canal advocates have done nothing but throw stones.
 
If the entire width of Broad Street is used for a canal (which is what the City is insisting on), there will be simply no room below grade or on the surface for rail transit.  Given that the major railroad rights of way needed for rail transit (the Charlotte Secondary, the Falls Road Corridor, and the R&S line) are on the west side, and given that they need to access the east side of downtown in order to be viable, we need an east-west connection through the west side of downtown in order to do this.  Main Street and Broad Street are the *only* options to do this, and there simply is no room on Main Street to create dedicated lanes for light rail.  Broad street (either on the surface or in the tunnel) is the only viable route for dedicated lanes for light rail.  In addition to that, FRA restrictions on the intermingling of light rail transit and freight rail may require that these corridors be implemented as heavy *commuter rail* instead of light rail.  If that is the case, the Broad Street tunnel is the *only* option (since commuter rail cannot be operated on street surfaces). 
 
Rochester's fragmented street pattern seriously restricts the options for rail transit in Rochester, and we simply have to deal with that reality.  On the other hand, Rochester does have an existing resource in the existing trolley subway that other cities would love to have.  Let's work together to ensure that the City does not toss away this valuable resource.
 
Regards,
DeWain