Plans to rehabilitate a stretch of the Cross-Bronx Expressway are on hold after years of pushback from Bronx residents and elected officials over the state’s proposal for the aging highway.
The state Department of Transportation announced Monday it is suspending the Cross Bronx Expressway Five Bridges Project and will not release the project’s final environmental assessment.
The project aimed to repair or replace five aging bridges along the expressway. But community groups and elected officials criticized parts of the proposal, arguing it would worsen congestion and pollution in a borough where asthma rates are among the city’s highest.
Last year, DOT dropped plans for an elevated diversion road after opponents said it would increase traffic and harm the tree canopy near the Bronx River and Starlight Park.
In a statement on Monday, NYSDOT New York City Regional Director Erik Koester said the agency had scaled back the proposal after community feedback but could not reach an agreement on how to move the project forward.
“Despite our best good faith efforts to bring this safety project forward, we have been unable to come to an agreement on how to successfully advance this project,” Koester said.
Koester said the agency would continue monitoring the bridges and make repairs as needed to preserve safety along the corridor.
Local environmental advocates applauded the decision.
“The actual pollution is unmanageable at the moment and adding more to that is unjust,” said Mychal Johnson of South Bronx Unite. “We are welcoming the news of not continuing the cycle of harm.”
Johnson, who has lived in Mott Haven for more than two decades, said residents already deal with heavy truck traffic tied to the expressway.
“The traffic we are engaging with on a daily basis — our kids are waking, going to school and coming home — it’s a lot,” he said. “The more we can get together and make solutions, it’s a win.”