Gov. Hochul’s Five Bridges Project Pours More Concrete into Bronx Wounds

I stand shoulder to shoulder with group groups demanding fix the bridges but don t build a park spanning evade Instead invest in highway capping green buffers clean transit operation and safe walking and biking paths The Cross Bronx Expressway Michael Appleton Mayoral Photography Office The Bronx has once again been offered a hollow promise Gov Kathy Hochul and the State Department of Transportation s so called Five Bridges Project comes dressed as infrastructure repair but it really doubles down on the Cross Bronx Expressway s legacy of environmental injustice Officially billed as a million effort to rehabilitate or replace five aging bridges between Boston Road and Rosedale Avenue this one mile corridor project would also add a new elevated roadway over the Bronx River with four lanes increasing highway quota not district access In response the Bronx River Alliance and the Stop the Cross Bronx Expansion coalition joined by local nonprofits schools and residents mobilized to reject the expansion plan calling for a full environmental impact declaration and locality led alternatives instead function d u ac var s d createElement 'script' s type 'text javascript' s src 'https a omappapi com app js api min js' s async true s dataset user u s dataset campaign ac d getElementsByTagName 'head' appendChild s document 'u kmqsczew vunxutxmd' This dispute resonates deeply with me in November I co signed letters alongside U S Rep Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and NYS Assemblymember Em rita Torres demanding the state rethink the expansion and return to society first planning I also publicly opposed elevated bypasses that echo Robert Moses era destruction an insult to a borough still recovering from those wounds Yes these bridges need repair And yes safety upgrades and better pedestrian bicycle and transit access are overdue But widening the corridor and cementing more highway lanes won t heal the Bronx it will deepen the scar We ve lived this pattern before zoning dust disruptions air defilement Countless families already can t open windows due to lingering fumes adding permanent traffic maximum only accelerates respiratory illness noise water runoff and weather harm Despite NYSDOT s population meetings in early June at the Bronx River Art Center residents overwhelmingly say that state planners are offering no meaningful alternative limited transparency and no guarantees that highway connectors won t erase trees access points or park views especially along the Bronx River Greenway in Starlight Park I stand shoulder to shoulder with district groups demanding fix the bridges but don t build a park spanning go around Instead invest in highway capping green buffers clean transit arrangement and safe walking and biking paths Bronxites have already pushed to cap the Cross Bronx with green space and pedestrian walkways on the portions of the roadway that sit below-grade a safe and cost-effective way to reconnect neighborhoods and depollute the corridor In fact in response to our area s advocacy to cap the highway NYC s Department of Transportation funded the Reimagine the Cross Bronx analysis to identify forward-thinking improvements for the Cross Bronx and reverse the harms of Robert Moses racist urban planning Nonetheless NYSDOT is choosing to overlook our public s priorities disregarding the scrutiny s findings in the design of the Five Bridges project As City Council Majority Leader I respectfully call on Gov Hochul to build on her previous leadership in rethinking infrastructure projects like the central reconsideration of the LaGuardia AirTrain plan and to bring that same commitment to this effort It s crucial to engage in genuine community-driven planning encouragement general alternatives for reconnecting neighborhoods and uphold our state s weather goals The Bronx is in a environment problem It s time to lead on environmental justice populace medical and neighborhood resilience Any project worth doing must elevate the voices who live here not drown them under more concrete and added traffic We remain open to constructive partnership But we will not stand by as our communities are sacrificed to an outdated highway agenda We deserve infrastructure that respects strength connectivity and equity not a widened highway masquerading as progress Amanda Far as is the majority leader of the New York City Council where she represents the Bronx s Council District The post Gov Hochul s Five Bridges Project Pours More Concrete into Bronx Wounds appeared first on City Limits