Bronx environmental groups are calling for a slowdown on a plan to add roadways to the Cross Bronx Expressway.

The five bridges that go over the expressway are currently under construction, and the proposed additional roadways would become bus, bike and pedestrian lanes alongside the highway. 

Those groups say the project, announced by Gov. Kathy Hochul in January, is planning to finalize its design by this fall without nearly enough community about it. The project would require four years of work tentatively scheduled to begin next year.

They say they are largely concerned about the new roadways that will remain after the bridge repairs are completed, and that they say could lead to more air and noise pollution as well as stormwater runoff.

“We definitely understand that bridges need to get repaired. Hands down, we’re all in agreement with that,” said Nilka Martell, the founder of the community volunteer group Loving the Bronx. “What we’re not in agreement with is whether or not this multimodal connector needs to be created…because we don’t know the impact that it’s going to have on the community and the environment.” 

New York State Department of Transportation spokesperson Glenn Blain told THE CITY in a statement that the project is part of the state’s “ongoing commitment to reconnect communities and it will help transform the Cross Bronx Expressway corridor by providing greater east/west connectivity for all s of the transportation system — including pedestrians and bicyclists — and improved mass transit accessibility.” 

He added that the effort “is in the preliminary design and environmental review phases and NYSDOT remains committed to engaging with the community at every juncture as we progress this transformative project.” 

State officials say the added lanes will reduce congestion, improve local air quality and provide a direct connection to nearby Starlight Park, which completed a $41 million renovation last year, and would remain accessible during construction. 

The transportation department won a $150 million federal grant in January for the additional roadways, with the rest of the projected $890 million cost expected to be divided between the state and the feds. The five bridges stretch between Boston Road and Rosedale Avenue in the West Farms neighborhood.

While the plans announced in January call for replacement of the five bridges, the transportation department is assessing specific needs for each bridge as project leaders meet with local groups. State DOT says public meeting about the plan will be scheduled later. 

Air and Noise Pollution

The infamously congested roadway, carved through Bronx neighborhoods by “master builder” Robert Moses, opened in 1963. 

Aiming to stitch back together borough neighborhoods separated by the submerged expressway, the city is set to finish a separated $2 million, federally funded study to “reimagine the Cross Bronx,” possibly by capping parts of the trench both east and west of the bridges, at the end of this year.

Both the state plan and the city study are intended to reduce air and noise pollution that contribute to The Bronx having the state’s highest asthma rates.  

Karen Argenti, board secretary for the Bronx Council for Environmental Quality, a nonprofit focused on environmental issues in the borough, told THE CITY that she’s concerned about how the new roadway’s hard surfaces will impact stormwater runoff, and questioned whether there might be other ways to repair the bridges without adding permanent new pavement. 

“The only thing I can say from an environmental point of view,” Argenti said, “is it’s completely impervious. it’ll be like adding more blacktop to the city.” 

She said that if the plan proceeds, the state would need to add new trees and plants to absorb water and offset the added street surface. 

NYSDOT has presented its plan this Spring to Bronx community boards 3, 6 and 9, with CB6 outlining its opposition to the project in a May 15 letter addressed to the state. 

“Residents and advocacy organizations expressed their opinion that this project is an expansion of the Cross Bronx Expressway for cars and opposed the project on principle. The diagrams shared by NYS DOT indicated the project was designed for cars, with pedestrians and bike lanes as an afterthought,” the letter reads.

The board went on to say that “The ‘multimodal connector’ is a greenwashing of an additional service road, which will take away access and sunlight in a public park (Starlight Park) and increase air pollution in the neighborhoods around the Cross Bronx Expressway.” 

Bronx River Alliance director of programs and operations Daniel Rannells emphasized the need for more “” from Bronxites. 

“This project is a massive project that’s going to set the tone for how the Cross Bronx is going to be addressed in the rest of The Bronx, if not further out,” he told THE CITY. “It’s $900 million and very few people know about it.”