the canal was on the *east* side of the river..
the photos that show the canal on the left side of the photo, with the bridge in the background, are looking south..
the main, more developed side of the park, with the Glen Iris Inn and all that, is the west side of the river, opposite bank from the canal.
the canal came first, then the PRR built its Rochester branch along the canal path after the canal was abandoned, and today the PRR ROW is a walking/biking trail.
(Genesee Valley Greenway -
http://www.fogvg.org/)
the East side of the park is not nearly as developed as the west side, btu there is a road you can drive into on the east side of the park to access the walking/biking trail.
walking on the bridge has *always* been illegal, but people have been doing it for well over 100 years anyway..
I have heard that NS is cracking down on it, at least more than Conrail did,
lots of new "no trespassing" signs are up..
I wouldnt recommend it..you CAN technically be arrested if you are caught!
If they do build a new bridge, its supposed to be slightly south of the existing bridge..
there is no way the railroad would ever allow an actual pedestrian walkway! not in our modern "sue everyone you can" society..
Scot
Scot