A baker’s dozen of native politicians are calling on Gov. Hochul’s administration to decide to extra neighborhood outreach round plans to restore and refresh the Cross Bronx Expressway.
A letter despatched earlier this month by 13 elected officers to Hochul and state Division of Transportation Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez calls on the Albany administration to make sure enough public enter for the state’s plan to restore 5 bridges alongside the infamous hall.
“This project represents a $900 million public investment, and we want to ensure it achieves the strongest possible outcomes for residents,” the pols wrote. “That includes transparency in the process, adequate time for meaningful community input, and a dialogue about the proposals and their environmental impact.”
The letter, despatched on the request of the Bronx River Alliance, is signed by Bronx State Meeting members Emérita Torres, Yudelka Tapia, Landon Dais and Amanda Septimo, State Senators Luis Sepúlveda, Gustavo Rivera, Jose Serrano and Nathalia Fernandez, Bronx Metropolis Council members Rafael Salamanca Jr. and Amanda Farías, Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson, Metropolis Comptroller Brad Lander and U.S. Congressman Ritchie Torres.
The opposite, extra controversial effort — referenced within the letter — entails repairs to 5 elevated sections of the roadway that will require closures to sections of the freeway.
State DOT officers are contemplating a plan that may contain constructing a connecting street throughout the Bronx River to maintain visitors flowing whereas these repairs are underway. Critics — together with environmental teams, area people teams and public transit advocates — say the extra street quantities to a widening of the Cross Bronx Expressway, introducing extra visitors and air pollution to close by neighborhoods.
This month’s letter from native electeds known as on the state to provide “full consideration” to plans that may omit the development of a connecting street.
In an announcement, state DOT spokesman Rolando Infante mentioned no choice has been made but concerning the connector.
“The project is not an expansion of the expressway and a number of options are being considered to accommodate existing expressway traffic and improve bike/pedestrian connectivity,” he mentioned. “The New York State Department of Transportation is committed to robust community engagement at every step in the process and the selection of an option will be informed by public input.”
Infante mentioned the venture’s environmental evaluation, which is able to lay an analysis of the state’s choices, might be launched for public remark later this yr.
