More and more groups are demanding that Monroe County authorities provide better access to the parks around Irondequoit Bay. A new survey is now aimed at assessing the needs of the population.
The county is seeking public input on trail use in parks near the bay, including Ellison, Tryon, Lucien Morin and Abraham Lincoln, and Irondequoit Bay Park West.
“We’re likely to hear from many of these stakeholders, from birders to hikers, mountain bikers and conservationists,” Bob Kiley, the county’s deputy parks director, said recently during a Monroe County Legislature committee meeting. “And that’s really critical to our understanding, and ultimately the consultants’ understanding, of what the needs and desires of the entire community are.”
Anita O’Brien sees the survey as an opportunity for the disability community to tell the county how its parks could better serve them. O’Brien is founder of Accessible Adventures in Rochesteran organisation committed to providing people with disabilities access to inclusive sport, leisure and tourism.
“It’s incredibly important to consider these voices early in the planning process, because then inclusion and accessibility are not an add-on,” O’Brien said. “It’s not something that gets thought about after the fact, when retrofitting is typically more expensive.”
It also gives park visitors with disabilities the opportunity to point out specific improvements that would remove barriers or obstacles. O’Brien said that could mean suggesting a move away from single-lane trails toward wider, multi-use paths that accommodate disabled bikes. Or it could mean pointing out rocks or tree roots that impede use of existing trails.
The group Greater Rochester Off-Road Cyclists encourages its members to ask the county to open parkways to bicycles. In 2009, despite some opposition, the group successfully lobbied the county to open Tryon Park and Irondequoit Bay Park West to mountain bikes. Otherwise, county law prohibits the use of bicycles on parkways.
The survey is available on the Monroe County Parks Department websiteThe district will accept responses to the survey until October 6.
