Waldo J. Nielsen Bridge

There’s a rhythm to most ventures, with times of progress interrupted by periods of pause, slog, or delay. Such has been the case with my project of visiting every bridge over the Genesee River. This fall has been a busy time, and so it’s been four months since my last post. But it’s a new year, so no better time to resume the journey than the start of 2023 with a visit to the Waldo J. Nielsen bridge.

In fairness to myself, I actually visited the bridge back in September when I attended my son Jonathan’s McQuaid Invitational cross-country race. Held every September, the McQuaid Invitational is the highlight of the local cross-country running season. It’s a huge event with almost 10,000 runners, the largest high-school sponsored race in the country, often featuring teams from as far away as California. It takes place in Genesee Valley Park, which, as it turns out, is a wonderland for bridges.

So before the race my daughter Abigail and I went and visited the next bridge on the list, a pedestrian bridge that crosses the Genesee River.

The bridge is one of only many that you can see at the junction between the Genesee River and the Erie Canal.

View from Waldo J. Nielsen Bridge

Most striking are the arched bridges designed by Frederick Olmsted’s landscape design firm that span the Erie Canal.

Bridges over Erie Canal (note the second bridge in the background)

The Waldo Nielsen bridge itself is fairly standard, though the views of the Genesee River and the Erie Canal are wonderful. What I didn’t notice when we first crossed it (we were in a hurry because of the start of Jonny’s race) was a dedicatory plaque for the bridge. Only later did I learn that it was named after Waldo Nielsen and I went back a second time in December to grab a picture of the plaque.

The plaque notes that “Waldo J. Nielsen was a leading advocate of converted abandoned railroad beds and towpaths into hiking and bicycling trails. May you enjoy the fulfillment of his vision.” What a wonderful person to honor with a pedestrian bridge! When I dug into his background I also learned that he had been a veteran of World War II, had published a book in 1974 on abandoned rail lines (you can read it, including the story of his inspiration, on the Internet Archive), had founded the Rochester Cycling Club in the 1960s, and had led other efforts such as the establishment of the Erie Canal trail. His son Howard Nielsen, founder of Sticky Lips BBQ, has posted a nice tribute to his dad, noting among other things his prominent role in getting a bridge built to connect the two sides of the park.

When I visited in December, we were just coming out of a cold snap and much of the river had ice.

I continued south along the river, until I got closer to the I-390 bridge (the subject of my next blog), and it seems fitting that on the way back I crossed over an abandoned railroad bridge spanning the Erie Canal. Based on historic maps it seems to have been part of the Pennsylvania Railroad.

Wrapping up my trip to the Waldo J. Nielsen bridge by crossing an old railroad trestle seemed like a suitable way to honor a man who had contributed much to people’s enjoyment by campaigning to convert old railway lines to modern walking paths.

Thank you Waldo Nielsen!