This Month in Rochester History

The local news of fifty years ago this month wasn't a lot different than the local news of this past summer.  In January 1966, Rochester area residents were talking about the upcoming paving of Tienken Road. But rather than a rebuilding project, the 1966 work proposed to pave Tienken for the very first time. And not everyone was in agreement about what ought to be done.  The Rochester Clarion reported as follows:

A motion to proceed with the paving of Tienken Rd. from the North Hill Plaza Shopping Center to the New York Central Railroad was approved by the Avon Township Board last week.
. . .
Paving of Tienken Rd. as far west as the railroad will still leave less than a half mile of unpaved road between Rochester Rd. and Livernois Rd. It had been proposed to pave the entire mile so that the route could be used for a bypass around the Village of Rochester.
Avon Township Supervisor Cyril Miller said this week that he personally would have liked to have seen the entire one mile paved.
The recommendation to pave only as far as the railroad was made by the Township Board's Road Committee, chairmaned [sic] by Trustee Donald Campbell.
Campbell said that the estimated cost of the project to the railroad is $35,000, with the Township and the County sharing the cost equally. He added that the lack of funds prevented paving the entire one mile at this time, but hinted that the remainder may be paved before another year goes by if funds are available.

In related news, a traffic signal that had been requested for the intersection of Rochester & Tienken was denied by the state highway department.  Officials who had conducted a traffic study reported that there was simply not enough traffic through the intersection to warrant a light - only 328 vehicles crossed that point between 6 & 7 a.m. on weekdays.  The Clarion responded by awarding the highway department a bouquet of poison ivy for its decision (see photo above).