The Cross Bronx Expressway was conceived by Robert Moses and built between 1948 and 1972. It was the first highway built through a crowded urban environment in the United States; the most expensive mile of road ever built to that point is part of the Cross Bronx, costing $40 million (equivalent to $454,956,522 in 2023). At one point during construction, Moses' crews had to support the Grand Concourse (a major surface thoroughfare), a subway line[a] and several elevated train lines[b] while the expressway was laboriously pushed through. The highway experiences severe traffic problems, and its construction has been blamed for negatively affecting a number of low-income neighborhoods in the South Bronx. Most Bronxites consider the Cross Bronx Expressway the defining border between the North and the South Bronx.[2]
Route description
A time-lapse video of a westbound trip on the Cross Bronx Expressway and adjacent highways
The Cross Bronx Expressway begins at the eastern end of the Alexander Hamilton Bridge, officially designated as both I-95 and US 1. Immediately after coming off the bridge, there is an interchange with the Major Deegan Expressway (I-87) for Yankee Stadium and points upstate. The highway soon intersects with Webster Avenue at a partial interchange allowing eastbound vehicles to exit and westbound ones to enter. Northbound US 1 leaves the Cross Bronx Expressway at this exit. About 1.5 miles (2.4 km) later, the expressway has a pair of closely spaced interchanges for NY 895 (Sheridan Boulevard) and the Bronx River Parkway. The exit for Sheridan Boulevard is an incomplete interchange and allows access from northbound and to southbound I-95 only.[3]
The Cross Bronx Expressway reaches the Bruckner Interchange 2 miles (3.2 km) later. The service road is called East 177th Street between the Bronx River Parkway and the Bruckner Interchange.[4] Going eastbound (I-95 northbound), the interchange allows access to southbound I-678, northbound I-95 (Bruckner Expressway) and southbound I-295. I-95 leaves the Cross Bronx Expressway here and continues north along the Bruckner Expressway. The Cross Bronx Expressway continues east of the interchange as I-295, which begins here.[3] The Cross Bronx connects with the Throgs Neck Expressway, where traffic from I-695 merges on before the expressway ends at the northern approach to the Throgs Neck Bridge.
History
Planning
Eastward from Westchester Avenue
The 1929 Report on Highway Traffic Conditions and Proposed Traffic Relief Measures for the City of New York was the first citywide traffic study, classifying a number of projects that had been proposed by local interests. A "Cross-Bronx Route" along 161st and 163rd Streets was one of two proposed facilities, along with the "Nassau Boulevard" (which became the Long Island Expressway), picked by borough engineers as examples of important projects.[5] Although this routing was south of the present Cross Bronx Expressway, the report did suggest a "New Cross-Bronx Artery" near the present expressway that would link the Washington Bridge with the Clason Point Ferry to Queens. Though it would not be built to freeway standards, it would be 60 feet (18 m) wide with grade separations "where considered necessary and desirable." The George Washington Bridge, then under construction, was cited among reasons to build the highway which would help connect New Jersey to Long Island via the bridges and ferry.[6]
In 1936, the Regional Plan Association (RPA) proposed a highway that would connect the Bronx to New England and points north.[7] In late 1940, the New York City Planning Commission adopted a plan for a network of highways. Except for the Bronx and Pelham Parkway, which lay to the north, no cross-Bronx highway had been built up to this point.[8] The report stated that the "Bronx Crosstown Highway", which would now connect on the east end to the Bronx–Whitestone Bridge (which had replaced the Clason Point Ferry), was "an essential part of a desirable highway pattern", taking traffic from the George Washington Bridge to Long Island and New England. The cost was estimated at $17 million, higher than most improvements because of the "topographical conditions, high land values, and heavily built-up areas".[9]
Construction
The Expressway traverses beneath Walton Avenue and Grand Concourse.
In the 1940s, city planner Robert Moses proposed the construction of a system of highways that would traverse the New York City area.[10] The plan was to cost $800 million (equivalent to $13.6 billion in 2023[11]), and, in February 1945, the city agreed to pay $60 million (equivalent to $805 million in 2023[11]) of that cost.[12] That November, the city, state, and federal governments agreed to fund several new highways in New York City. Among these was the Cross Bronx Expressway, which was to cost $38.67 million.[13] The expressway was to continue onto the 181st Street Bridge at its western end, connecting with the 178th–179th Street Tunnels and the George Washington Bridge via a set of ramps.[14] At its eastern end, the expressway would connect with the Hutchinson River Parkway and New England Thruway at the Bruckner Interchange.[15]
The New York City Board of Estimate approved a contract in February 1946, allowing the Tenant Relocation Bureau to relocate 540 families who lived on the expressway's right-of-way.[16] The New York City Council adopted a resolution the next month, asking the Board of Estimate to delay the relocations,[17] which were scheduled to start that June.[18] City officials said that only 55 families would be relocated in 1946 and that all existing residents would be relocated before construction started.[19][20] By late 1947, the city and state governments were relocating residents in the expressway's path.[21] The city and state started soliciting bids for construction contracts that December.[21][22] Although the city and state planned to demolish 164 structures on the expressway's right-of-way, they were reluctant to raze all of the structures immediately because of a housing shortage in New York City.[23] The city government was able to obtain this land through the eminent domain process.[24]
Construction of the expressway began in 1948.[25][26] A 112-foot open cut was excavated, accommodating six 12-foot-wide (3.7 m) traffic lanes and four 10-foot-wide (3.0 m) cobblestone shoulders. This project proved to be one of the most difficult expressway projects at the time; construction required blasting through ridges, crossing valleys and redirecting small rivers. In doing so, minimal disruption to the apartment buildings that topped the ridges in the area of Grand Concourse was a priority.[27] Moreover, the expressway had to cross 113 streets, seven expressways and parkways (some of which were under construction), as well as numerous subway and train lines.[27][28] The highway also passed by hundreds of utility, water and sewer lines, none of which could be interrupted.[27][29] The highway was to contain 54 bridges and three tunnels when it was completed.[29] By early 1949, the project's budget had increased to $53 million,[30] in part because of material shortages.[23][30]
Eastern section
A large stone arch overpass carries Crotona Avenue over the expressway
By early 1949, the first section of the expressway, between Olmstead Avenue and Westchester Creek, was not planned to be completed until 1951.[31] The Gull Construction Company was contracted to build this segment in May 1949,[32] and Rusciano & Sons was hired the same month to build the footings for six bridges along the expressway.[33] In addition, Frederick H. Zurmuhlen was supervising the construction of a bridge over Westchester Creek at a cost of $5,287,000;[34] the ten-lane bridge was to supplement a surface-level span.[35] Engineering firms Andrews & Clark and Hardesty & Hanover were hired to supervise the project later in 1949.[36] A short segment near Bruckner Boulevard opened in 1950 and was the first part of the expressway to be completed.[37]
The state government hired the J. Kaufman Demolition Company in 1951 to raze structures on the right-of-way east of the Bronx River Parkway.[38] By early 1953, part of the highway east of the Bronx River Parkway was also being constructed.[15] The construction of this section required excavating underneath the Parkchester station of the New York City Subway's Pelham Line.[37] In addition, the Bronx River had to be relocated several hundred feet in the vicinity of the Bronx River Parkway interchange.[29][28] The section from the Bronx River Parkway to the Bruckner Interchange opened on November 5, 1955, at the same time as parts of the Queens Midtown and Major Deegan expressways. The first portion of the Cross Bronx Expressway had cost $34.6 million and was about 2 miles (3.2 km) long.[39][1] The segment was six lanes wide;[40] its original western end was at Rosedale Avenue, where ramps connected to the northbound Bronx River Parkway.[41] A one-mile (1.5 km) western extension from the Bronx River Parkway to a temporary interchange at Longfellow Avenue, near Boston Road, opened on April 23, 1956.[42]
When the Throgs Neck Bridge to Queens opened on January 11, 1961,[43][44] the Cross Bronx was extended east as one of the bridge's two northern approaches, the other being the Throgs Neck Expressway (later I-695). Both extensions were part of the Interstate Highway System.[45] The Cross Bronx Expressway Extension and the Clearview Expressway were originally designated as part of I-78,[46][47][48] which was to continue through Queens, Brooklyn, and Manhattan to the Holland Tunnel.[49][50][51] Ultimately, most of I-78 was canceled in 1971.[52][53][47] In anticipation of this change, the Cross Bronx Expressway Extension and the Clearview Expressway were renumbered I-295 on January 1, 1970.[54]
Central section
The section of the Cross Bronx Expressway between Anthony and Longfellow Avenues was highly controversial.[55] In early 1953, Bronx borough president James J. Lyons proposed relocating the Cross Bronx Expressway near Crotona Park in order to preserve 1,000 houses in the expressway's right-of-way. Under Lyons's plan, the highway would curve slightly southward and run along the northern edge of Crotona Park, creating a "kink" in the routing.[56][57] Moses, who called Lyons's proposal "unreasonable", threatened to resign from his position as city construction coordinator if Lyons's alternative was approved.[58][59] Moses also threatened to cancel federal funding for the entire project.[60] After an acrimonious public hearing in April 1953, the Board of Estimate could not agree on whether to relocate the expressway along Crotona Park.[61] State officials supported Moses's original plan, saying that the Crotona Park alternative would create "curves and reverse curves of sub-standard radius".[55] Ultimately, the Board of Estimate approved Moses's original alignment that May.[62][63]
The westbound Cross Bronx Expressway passing under Grand Concourse; note the large brick-faced retaining walls
By 1954, the project's cost had increased to $86 million, but land for the western section of the expressway had not even been purchased, leading The New York Times to describe the existing sections as a "road to nowhere".[37] Although the Cross Bronx Expressway had been one of the first highways planned in New York City, it was estimated that the expressway would be the last project to be completed.[64] In November 1954, the Board of Estimate voted unanimously to buy land for the section between Anthony and Longfellow Avenues, despite continued opposition from Bronx residents. At the time, officials estimated that the central section of the expressway would cost $21 million.[65][66] Of this cost, $8 million would be spent on acquiring the land and relocating 1,462 families.[66] By 1956, the Times reported that the center section was not expected to be completed for several years because of the expense of relocating tenants.[67]
Construction of the section between exits 3 and 2B began in early 1958, at which point the project's total cost had increased to $101 million. The most expensive part of the project was the 0.6-mile (0.97 km) segment between exits 2B and 2A in Tremont, Bronx, which was planned to cost $11.788 million; it included a 300-foot-long (91 m) tunnel under the Grand Concourse and the underground Concourse Line, as well as an open cut that passed under five avenues.[68] On April 27, 1960, another 1.2-mile (2 km) piece opened, taking the road west to Webster Avenue.[69][70] Later that year, the westernmost 0.4 miles (0.64 km) of the expressway was closed to allow the completion of the Tremont section.[71] The 0.6-mile (1 km) Tremont segment from Webster Avenue west to Jerome Avenue opened on February 10, 1961.[72][73] By that time, all construction contracts for the remaining sections of the expressway had been awarded.[73]
Western section
Deegan interchange
The 181st Street Bridge, and the ramps from the bridge to the existing 178th Street Tunnel and a new 179th Street Tunnel in Manhattan, were originally part of the Cross Bronx Expressway.[14] In 1949, workers began widening the 181st Street Bridge, constructing the ramps, and excavating the 179th Street Tunnel.[74][75] The widening was finished by 1950,[76][77] and the tunnel and interchange opened on May 5, 1952.[78][79] Originally, there had not been any plans to construct an interchange with the Major Deegan Expressway, at the highway's western end, because of the area's steep topography and limited space.[80] In December 1952, the city and state reached an agreement to finance the construction of an interchange at that site.[80][81]
Plans for the western end of the expressway were modified substantially[82] after the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced in 1957 that it would construct a lower deck on the George Washington Bridge.[83] To accommodate the additional traffic from the George Washington Bridge, the Trans-Manhattan Expressway and Alexander Hamilton Bridge were to be constructed, connecting the George Washington Bridge and the Cross Bronx Expressway.[84][85] The revised plans were announced in 1958. At the time, the Alexander Hamilton Bridge was planned to be completed in 1962, but the interchange with the Major Deegan would not open until two years after that.[82] With the opening of the Alexander Hamilton Bridge in April 1963, the $128 million Cross Bronx was completed, but two major interchanges were still incomplete: the Highbridge Interchange with the Major Deegan Expressway (I-87), and the Bruckner Interchange with the Bruckner Expressway (I-95/I-278), the Hutchinson River Parkway, and the Hutchinson River Expressway (I-678).[86]
Later modifications
The $12.6 million Highbridge Interchange opened in November 1964.[87][88] The $68 million reconstruction of the Bruckner Interchange, allowing Bruckner Expressway traffic to bypass the old traffic circle, opened on January 2, 1972.[89][90] (Cross Bronx traffic passing through to the Throgs Neck Bridge had been able to avoid the circle, but drivers taking the Bruckner in either direction, including those bound for New England, had to exit onto the surface.)[91]
In late 2023, the U.S. government allocated $150 million for bus lanes, sidewalks, and bicycle lanes on parts of the Cross Bronx Expressway. This was part of a $258 million project to replace five bridges along the expressway.[92][93] The following June, the New York state and city governments began hosting meetings with local residents to determine how to reconnect neighborhoods that had been split during the expressway's construction.[94] The state government planned to finalize the designs for the five new bridges by late 2024; at the time, the project was scheduled to take four years. Several environmental groups objected to the bridge replacement, saying that the state government had not solicited enough feedback from local residents.[95]
Effects
Urban decay
The Cross Bronx Expressway is blamed for worsening the decay of neighborhoods in the South Bronx, such as Tremont. In Robert Caro's The Power Broker, the author argues that Moses intentionally directed the expressway through this neighborhood, even though there was a more viable option only one block south.[96] The expressway's construction displaced many residents, who generally were not relocated to adequate housing.[97]The New York Times reported in 2022 that the areas near the Cross Bronx Expressway were among New York City's poorest neighborhoods; these areas contained 220,000 residents, most of which were ethnic minorities.[98]
The eastbound Cross Bronx entering the tunnel in East Tremont, one of the most impoverished parts of New York City
Many of the neighborhoods it runs through have been continually poor since its construction, partly due to the lowered property value caused by the expressway.[98] This is partially responsible for the public opposition to many other planned expressways in New York City that were later cancelled – in particular, the Lower Manhattan Expressway,[99] and may have provided impetus to Jane Jacobs, an American expatriate, in her opposition to the Scarborough Expressway in Toronto. Architect Ronald Shiffman argues that the Cross Bronx Expressway "ripped through the heart of the Bronx, creating what was a wall between what eventually was known as the Northern and Southern part of the Bronx."[100]
Health issues
The Cross Bronx Expressway accounts for a large proportion of the Bronx's roadway pollution.[101][102] Bronx residents are more likely to have asthma than residents of other boroughs, and a large portion of those are children. Because things like dust, pollution, and other allergens serve as factors for developing asthma, children of color living in low-income areas in the Bronx are at risk of suffering from asthma exacerbation. Asthma rates in the Bronx are three times higher than the national average.[101] In the Morris Heights neighborhood of the West Bronx, where the Cross Bronx and Major Deegan Expressways intersect, air-pollution rates are also generally higher than in the rest of the borough.[102] To decrease emissions from the Cross Bronx Expressway, community activists proposed constructing a freeway lid in the early 2020s.[103][104]
In both 2008 and 2007, Inrix cited the Cross Bronx Expressway's westbound exit 4B (Bronx River Parkway) as being the worst intersection in the United States. In 2008, the expressway's exits included three out of the top four on the list, and four of the top five in 2007.[28][107] Congestion is often exacerbated by the fact that large portions of the Cross Bronx Expressway does not meet modern Interstate standards,[108] as well as the relative lack of arterial roads between the West Bronx and East Bronx.[109] Large portions of the expressway do not have shoulders, so even minor breakdowns could cause congestion.[108][109] A 2002 study by the New York State Department of Transportation found that the expressway also had short entrance and exit ramps, poor sightlines, and dim lighting.[105][109] Other issues were caused by the fact that the expressway's service roads were discontinuous, forcing traffic onto the expressway or local streets.[109]
^Harland Bartholomew, Report to the Honorable James J. Walker, Mayor, on Highway Traffic Conditions and Proposed Traffic Relief Measures for the City of New York, Day & Zimmermann, 1929, OCLC 35914068
^ ab"Work Progressing at Western Terminus of Cross-Bronx Expressway". New York Herald Tribune. April 8, 1950. p. 9. ISSN1941-0646. ProQuest1327401045.
^ abWidlicka, Leo (March 6, 1953). "Bronx Hums With Work on 2 Expressways: Maj. Deegan, Cross-Bronx Routes Will Each Have 6 Lanes, No Stop Lights Two New Super Highways in the Bronx Begin to Take Shape". New York Herald Tribune. p. 19. ISSN1941-0646. ProQuest1322297699.
^"O'DwyerDenies City's Evictions Bring Hardship: Says N.Y. Is Relocating 305 Families Affected in '46 by Work on Expressways". New York Herald Tribune. May 11, 1946. p. 15. ISSN1941-0646. ProQuest1291144287.
^"State to Award $25,000,000 in Road Projects: Record Contract Letting to Include 2,000,000 Job on Bronx River Parkway". New York Herald Tribune. December 3, 1947. p. 2. ISSN1941-0646. ProQuest1291362023.
^ abSugrue, Francis (July 26, 1948). "New Highways Mapped to Link Four Boroughs: 6-Lane Roads, Free of Red Lights, Planned; Some Sections Already Begun". New York Herald Tribune. p. 3. ISSN1941-0646. ProQuest1327416845.
^John P. McGrath, Corporation Counsel ( H.E. O'Donnell, E.A. Weingarten, R. Abberman and A. Cohen of counsel), for City of New York. vs. Alfred J. Talley and others, for claimants. (20 July 1948), Text.
^"City Working On 37 Arterial Highway Plans: Pari of Over-Alle Expressway Program to Relieve Traffic at Cost of $496.953,531". New York Herald Tribune. January 10, 1949. p. 3. ISSN1941-0646. ProQuest1326795431.
^Ross, Don (November 6, 1955). "3 City Expressway Routes Are Opened: Harriman and Wagner Attend, Urge Vote for Roads Bond Issue". New York Herald Tribune. p. 3. ISSN1941-0646. ProQuest1326055593.
^"3 New Expressways to Ease City Bottlenecks". New York Herald Tribune. October 15, 1955. p. A1. ISSN1941-0646. ProQuest1327591814.
^Phillips, Dorothy A. (January 12, 1961). "Throgs Neck Bridge Opens New Gateway to Long Island". Long Island Star-Journal. pp. 1B, 13B – via Fultonhistory.com.
^"Lyons Terms Moses 'Poo Bah' On Expressway: Defends Rights of 1,000 Bronx Home Owners in Selection of Route". New York Herald Tribune. March 13, 1953. p. 34. ISSN1941-0646. ProQuest1322300605.
^"Bronx County Inventory Listing"(CSV). New York State Department of Transportation. August 7, 2015. Archived from the original on January 24, 2020. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
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