The Grand Erie Canal, also known as Clinton's Ditch, opened to Brockport in 1823 and formally opened from Buffalo to Albany on Oct 26, 1825. This 4 foot deep, 40 foot wide canal was enlarged here in the early 1860s to 7 feet deep, 70 feet wide. Both canals went through downtown Rochester, but by the late 1800s they were causing problems with the bustling traffic downtown. The NYS Barge Canal System, 12 feet deep and 120 feet wide, was designed to bypass cities, and Rochester struggled to decide where the new route should be. The section from Greece Junction Lock to the Genesee River was the last statewide section of the Erie Barge Canal to open, on May 14, 1918.