The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) has dismissed two possible designs for its Cross Bronx Bridges Project after receiving community feedback. The project, currently in the design and engineering phase, is meant to rehabilitate or replace five aging bridges along the Cross Bronx Expressway.
NYSDOT presented several design options to the public, all meant to mitigate traffic buildup or reroute it altogether during construction on the bridges. According to officials, the public response indicated little to no interest in design options 1A and 1B. As a result, officials have dismissed those options from future consideration.
Both 1A and 1B were distinct in offering a temporary traffic diversion structure (TDS) that would have remained accessible to the public post-construction.
Option 1A would have converted the temporary TDS into a permanent four-lane roadway for local traffic and buses, complete with a shared-use path for pedestrians and cyclists. Option 1B proposed transforming the TDS into a two-lane roadway exclusively for bus use, also featuring a shared-use path for pedestrians and cyclists.
Both local community members and elected officials voiced concerns over these options, citing highway expansion and air pollution concerns. Environmental groups including the Bronx River Alliance and Transportation Alternatives organized opposition campaigns, while Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ritchie Torres also opposed the plans.
The remaining designs either do not include a TDS or would limit the access given to pedestrians and cyclists post-construction. Recent renderings show designs with much smaller shared-use paths instead of designated roadways.
The choice between these two sets of plans affects the duration of the project. Omitting the TDS would likely extend the project duration from four to six years, according to NYSDOT officials, along with increased traffic congestion.
The project has been in the works for several years. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced $150 million in Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) grants for the project in January, citing the need for more efficient traffic flow and commuter safety, as well as a needed detour from the bridge construction. The $150 million announcement included the now-dismissed multimodal TDS designs.
The bridges were built between 1947 and 1958, approaching 80 years old and reaching the end of their service lives. They face structural deficiencies from deicing salt corrosion and no longer meet current seismic design requirements. The Expressway, a critical Interstate 95 corridor, sees heavy traffic with approximately 150,000 vehicles traveling every day. The project focuses on the five bridges within a one-mile section between Boston Road and Rosedale Avenue.
NYSDOT will now proceed with a Draft Environmental Assessment in the fall, covering the remaining designs and their impact. Construction is slated to begin in late 2025 or 2026, and depending on the design chosen, will last four to six years.
Photo by Jim.henderson, CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
