New York won’t turn a temporary bypass next to the Cross Bronx Expressway into a permanent highway, and might instead convert the overpass into a bike and pedestrian path after a reconstruction project wraps, or ditch the extra roadway altogether, the state Department of Transportation said last week.
New York State DOT’s reversal came after heavy pushback from lawmakers and locals, who slammed Gov. Hochul for planning to add even more highway to the traffic-plagued Bronx. Advocates now hope the state will go further and opt not to build an environmentally-detrimental parallel structure at all.
“I think it’s a step in the right direction,” said Edmundo Martinez, a nearby resident and volunteer with the Bronx River Alliance. “I don’t think communities should be celebrating this in any shape or form, because this is still going to be a diversion structure.”…