en.Wedoany.com Reported - The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) has halted a $900 million plan to upgrade several aging highway bridges in the Bronx. The project, named the "Cross Bronx Bridges Project," originally aimed to update five bridges along a one-mile stretch of the Cross Bronx Expressway (CBE). However, the additional six-lane widening plan sparked strong opposition from local community organizations.
In a statement, NYSDOT cited the failure to reach an agreement with local organizers on the project plan as the reason for its abandonment. The Bronx River Alliance stated in a release that it understands the bridges need repairs, but the issue lies in how to minimize harm to the local environment and residents. This nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting waterways believes the state chose to blame the Bronx rather than meet residents' basic needs for a healthy future. Commissioner Dominguez also stated in the release that community feedback clearly indicated that using a traffic diversion structure was not feasible.
The agency initially proposed updating these five bridges in 2018. Built between 1947 and 1958, the bridges have shown signs of aging, including concrete cracking, steel deterioration, and impact damage. However, from the project's inception, the state sought to widen the highway sections supported by these bridges. According to an NYSDOT report, adding shoulder space and altering the CBE's "non-compliant geometric design features" would help reduce collisions and congestion on that stretch. This highway is one of the busiest in the United States, with up to 150,000 vehicles passing through the South Bronx daily.
Over the past year, NYSDOT gradually withdrew some construction plans. One set of plans proposed building an elevated traffic diversion structure parallel to the highway, which would either be demolished and replaced with a narrower shared-use path or transformed into a combination of bus, bicycle, or pedestrian space. In August and October 2025, NYSDOT announced these plans were no longer under consideration. By the end of 2025, the agency proposed new plans, including versions with or without sidewalks or bike lanes parallel to the highway, all of which widened the CBE by 29 feet and 49 feet, respectively. A comment jointly signed by 41 organizations, including the Bronx River Alliance, noted that NYSDOT did not clearly explain how the widening would improve traffic or safety conditions and suggested these changes could be counterproductive, as previous highway widening under the guise of "safety shoulders" had produced opposite effects.
The Bronx Council for Environmental Quality, a nonprofit organization in the borough, expressed disappointment with the stormwater management plan in the project, demanding the use of green infrastructure or nature-based solutions to increase vegetation or block road noise. The South Bronx has one of the highest asthma rates in the United States. Tenants at the NYCHA complex—Bronx River Houses—located near the one-mile highway stretch reported that residents keep their windows closed due to severe local air pollution. Karen Argenti, Communications Secretary for the council, said, "They could have been more imaginative." Rafael Moure-Punnett, District Manager of Bronx Community Board #6, added that he hopes NYSDOT will collaborate with the community to discuss federal investments to address the highway's negative impacts on residents. In line with previous commitments, the state agency will continue to monitor the bridges and carry out repairs.
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