Route B: Waterfront Connector
People bicycling on protected bike lanes on Cascadilla St. Conceptual rendering by Whitham Planning & Design, PLLC.
The Waterfront Connector brings Downtown and Northside closer to each other, to the growing Waterfront district and the Cayuga Waterfront Trail. It also connects various food and dining locations in Ithaca: the Ithaca Farmers’ Market, the new Greenstar Co-op Market, Gimme! Coffee, and Purity Ice Cream. The Waterfront Connector opens key destinations to Ithaca’s residents and visitors, and better connects current Northside and future Waterfront residents to employment, services, and transit available in the Downtown core.
Bicycle usage along this route is based on bikeshare usage data, which shows particularly high traffic to Greenstar and the Ithaca Farmers’ Market. Bicycle infrastructure is currently non-existent along this corridor, but there are several low-traffic neighborhood streets which could be used to connect these destinations . Connector streets in the Northside neighborhood experience strong vehicular peak demand during weekdays and market days since they connect directly to NY Route 13. Unless traffic calming measures are implemented, infrastructure that is shared with vehicles will not be safe enough for residents and visitors to bike along this route.
