"Open Up" Downtown

A Beautiful Evening Walking North on Genesee Street

Genesee Street with it's many historic and beautiful buildings clearly hold the key to the resurgence of Utica and the surrounding areas. Something that needs to be seriously looked into is the removal of the the bridge that creates a four corner divide not only with the downtown area, but also a divide between the North Genesee Street area and downtown. Every year tens of thousands of visitors get off the thruway and stop at hotels, restaurants and gas stations. When they look south all they see is that big "hump" of a bridge. The remedy would be to look into the feasibility of tearing down this bridge and utilizing the little used entrance to Genesee Street that exits to the right before the bridge heading south. Tearing down this bridge would unite all four sections of downtown including Union Station and the Baggs Tavern historic area, and create a more scenic and appealing entrance into Utica. This would really benefit any consideration of developing the Harbor Point area and to stimulate growth on the vacant lot areas next to the Auditorium.