Rochester

Mill Street extension road to be updated, open to public

By Erin McClary
C & G Staff Writer

ROCHESTER — By this fall, commuters should have access to what’s been commonly referred to as the Mill Street extension, which will be restored and opened to the public, on the city’s southeast side.

The idea is to help alleviate traffic issues that may be caused by the one-way Main Street East Alley conversion and the 2012 Main Street construction project, said City Manager Jaymes Vettraino.

Thanks to a cooperative agreement between the city and the Soave Real Estate Group, which owns the land where an old paper mill once stood, the temporary road will undergo some renovations and be opened to the public, allowing access from East Second Street to Mills Street.

“This was a private road, but opened to the public prior to the purchase of the property by Soave Group, which closed it due to concerns of liability,” Vettraino explained in a memo to City Council members. “Now that the city has converted (the Main Street) East Alley to one-way, reopening this road to traffic could serve the Mill Street/Diversion/South Street area of the city and would substantially improve the traffic patterns in that area.”

The project was estimated to cost $22,500. However, Vettraino explained, the Rochester Downtown Development Authority is picking up $13,000 of the cost and Superior Products has provided the city with 600 linear feet of concrete barricades — a $6,000 value — needed for the project, leaving the city with a low balance to cover.

Vettraino presented the agreement drawn up between city administrators and Soave Group Aug. 23, and council members agreed to it.

“We thought it was important … to be able to provide access to that area,” he said. “I think it’s going to provide much better access to that part of town.”

Tom Turnbull, vice president of the Soave Real Estate Group, explained that back in the ’80s, the Rochester Road bridge near the property had some structural issues and a driveway was put in to provide employees of the old paper mill access to the property. The paper mill was demolished after Soave Group acquired the land.

The paper mill, he said, was between the Clinton River Trail and the river. It was accessed at the end of Mill Street, where it deadened. The driveway that was installed roughly 30 years ago goes from East Second Street, directly across from the Fire Station, to where the paper mill was, connecting to Mill Street.

Soave Group currently owns 18 acres of land that encompasses the area in question, so the city needed an easement to have the road reconstructed and opened to the public.

“We entered into an agreement with the city that states they would maintain the road,” Turnbull said, explaining that potholes and other repairs will be the city’s responsibility, according to the agreement. “(Rochester administrators) are very cooperative people, and we try to cooperate with them. We want help them facilitate what they need to do downtown.”

Turnbull said the Soave Group had blueprints for a residential development on the property, but the plans were halted due to the down-turned economy and housing market. If the company does eventually build up the area, it will install a permanent road where the temporary road is going to be.

“There’s a real blacktop road there now,” Vettraino said. “We’re using an existing private road and updating it to make it public.”

He expects construction to start in the middle of September. 

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Erin McClary at emcclary@candgnews.com or at (586)279-1118.