The Cross Bronx Expressway.
Photo by Adrian Childress
Advocates with the Stop the Cross Bronx Expansion Coalition rallied at the Bronx River Art Center on Wednesday, urging Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration to “fast-track” restarting a stalled bus lane project on Tremont Avenue as an alternative to the state’s plan to repair the Cross Bronx Expressway.
Siddhartha Sánchez, executive director of the Bronx River Alliance, charged that Gov. Kathy Hochul‘s Department of Transportation’s plan to widen the expressway’s shoulders would “only deepen the very damage” that the highway has already inflicted on the Boogie Down. Widening the highway’s shoulders, advocates argue, could open the door to eventually adding more traffic lanes to the already heavily congested and polluting road, which cuts through the center of the Bronx.
The advocates have long charged that the state’s $900 million “5 Bridges Project,” which is aimed at rehabbing the five bridges along the Cross Bronx, would bring necessary repairs, but would not address the highway’s adverse environmental impact on Bronxites.
As an alternative, Sánchez said Mamdani’s Department of Transportation should restart plans to build half-mile busways on Tremont Avenue to speed up the Bx36 bus, which was paused by former Mayor Eric Adams’ administration last summer. Part of the Bx36’s route runs parallel to a stretch of the Cross Bronx.
“In the shadow of this huge highway that might even get bigger, we are urging the mayor to prioritize the 3,000 residents of Bronx River houses who live right across the street from the Cross Bronx and haven’t been able to open their windows for over a generation, as well as everyone else who struggles just to breathe here and make sure we have something what we do need, the BX 36,” Sánchez said during the event.
“We need the mayor to fast-track the Tremont Avenue busway before State Construction locks in a future that once again leaves the Bronx behind,” he added.
In response to the coalition’s request, city DOT spokesperson Vincent Barone touted the Mamdani administration’s commitment to restart a plan to build offset bus lanes on Fordham Road earlier this month, after the Adams administration halted that project as well. He also teased that the administration will pursue more projects to speed up Bronx bus service in the near future.
“We’re just getting started; the Mamdani administration has tasked us with developing bold ideas to bring bus service to the next level, and we look forward to sharing these plans soon,” Barone said in a statement.
amNewYork reached out to the state DOT and is awaiting a response.
During the press conference, Anna Berlanga, the Bronx organizer for the group Transportation Alternatives, said the coalition is demanding that the state keep the Cross Bronx within its original footprint.
“We don’t want it widened, not by a foot, not by 10 feet, 50 feet or more,” Berlanga said. “We want to stay within its original footprint. We’ve been steadfast with this ask for over a year, and we will continue to be steadfast in this ask.”
