Cross Bronx Expressway

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Cross Bronx Expressway
Length: 6.5 mi[1] (10.5 km)
West end: I-95 / US 1 (Trans-Manhattan)
Major
junctions:		 I-87 in Morris Heights
US 1 in Tremont
Bronx River Parkway in Soundview
I-95 / I-278 in Throgs Neck
East end: I-295 (Throgs Neck)
Numbered highways in New York
Interstate - U.S. - N.Y. - Reference

The Cross Bronx Expressway is a major expressway (freeway) in the New York City borough of the Bronx. It helps carry traffic on Interstate 95 through the city, and serves as a portion of Interstate 295 towards Long Island; a portion is also designated U.S. Route 1. The Cross Bronx begins at the Alexander Hamilton Bridge over the Harlem River, where the Trans-Manhattan Expressway continues west across Upper Manhattan to the George Washington Bridge. While I-95 leaves at the Bruckner Interchange in Throgs Neck, following the Bruckner Expressway and New England Thruway to Connecticut, the Cross Bronx Expressway Extension continues east, carrying I-295 to the merge with the Throgs Neck Expressway near the Throgs Neck Bridge.

Contents

[edit] Route description

The Cross Bronx Expressway begins at the eastern end of the Alexander Hamilton Bridge as a continuation of the Trans-Manhattan Expressway and 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 one and half miles later, comes a pair of closely-spaced interchanges for the Sheridan Expressway (I-895) and the Bronx River Parkway. The exit for the Sheridan Expressway is an incomplete interchange and allows access from northbound and to southbound I-95 only.

The Cross Bronx Expressway reaches the Bruckner Interchange two miles later. 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. The Cross Bronx ends 1.5 miles (2.4 km) later at the Throgs Neck Expressway, where traffic from Interstate 695 merges on towards the Throgs Neck Bridge.[2]

[edit] History

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Please improve this article if you can. (April 2008)
Traffic congestion is very common on the Cross Bronx Expressway.
Traffic congestion is very common on the Cross Bronx Expressway.

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), to be picked by borough engineers as examples of important projects.[3] 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 (20 m) wide with grade separations "where considered necessary and desirable". The under-construction George Washington Bridge was cited as one of the reasons to build the highway, which would help connect New Jersey to Long Island via the bridges and ferry.[4]

The New York City Planning Commission adopted a plan in late 1940 for a network of highways. Except for the Bronx and Pelham Parkway, which lay to the north, no cross-Bronx highway had been built.[5] 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 $17,000,000, higher than most improvements because of the "topographical conditions, high land values, and heavily built-up areas".[6][7]

The first portion, from the Bronx River Parkway east to the Bruckner Interchange, opened on November 5, 1955, at the same time as parts of the Queens Midtown and Major Deegan Expressways.[8] When the Throgs Neck Bridge opened on January 11, 1961, the Cross Bronx was extended east as one of its two northern approaches.[9] (The extension was part of I-78 until 1970, when it became I-295, its current designation.) A one-mile (1.5 km) western extension to a temporary interchange with Boston Road opened on April 23, 1956,[10] and on April 27, 1960, another 1.2-mile (2 km) piece opened, taking the road west to Webster Avenue.[11] The short 0.6-mile (1 km) piece from Webster Avenue west to Jerome Avenue opened on February 10, 1961.[12] With the opening of the Alexander Hamilton Bridge in April 1963, the $128 million Cross Bronx was completed.[13] This was, however, not the end of construction; the $12.6 million Highbridge Interchange with the Major Deegan Expressway (I-87) opened in November 1964,[14][15] and a $68 million reconstruction of the Bruckner Interchange, allowing Bruckner Expressway (I-95/I-278) traffic to bypass the old traffic circle, opened on January 2, 1972.[16][17] (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.[18])

In 1936, the Regional Plan Association (RPA) proposed a Cross Bronx highway which would connect the George Washington, Triborough, and Bronx-Whitestone Bridges, as well as access to points north to New England. Five years later, the New York City Planning Planning Department recommended construction of the "Bronx Crosstown Highway."

Robert Moses proposed a six-lane expressway to run through the heart of the South Bronx in 1945. This project proved to be one of the most difficult expressway projects of the time: construction required blasting through ridges, crossing valleys and redirecting rivers. In doing so, minimal disruption to the apartment buildings that topped the ridges in the area of Grand Concourse was a priority. Moreover, the expressway had to cross 113 streets, seven expressways and parkways (some of which were under construction), one subway line, five elevated lines, three commuter rail lines, and hundreds of utility, water and sewer lines, none of which could be interrupted.

Construction began in 1948. The roadway was carefully constructed with twelve-foot wide lanes and ten foot wide cobblestone shoulders. In 1963, the last of the three sections of roadway between the Alexander Hamilton and Throgs Neck Bridges were finished, completing the Cross Bronx Expressway.

Many have blamed the Cross Bronx Expressway for worsening the decay of already-embattled neighborhoods in the South Bronx, with the prominent example being the neighborhood of 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. Many of the neighborhoods it runs through have been continually poor since before its construction, primarily due to the lowered property value caused by the Expressway. This is partially to blame for the public opposition to many other planned expressways in New York City that were later cancelled. The Cross Bronx Expressway was an engineering marvel for its time, for it was the first highway to plow through a crowded urban environment. The Expressway was designed by the famed WWII General who also engineered the Burma Road, but in regards to the expressway was quoted as "The [Burma] Road was tough. But that was nothing compared to this son of a bitch". The most expensive mile of road ever built is part of the Cross Bronx, costing $40,000,000. At one point during construction, Moses' team had supported the Grand Concourse while the Expressway was being rammed through. In the process, crews had to elevate a major thoroughfare, a subway line and an El train.

The expressway is one of the main routes for shipping and transportation through New York City due to its connections with New Jersey via the George Washington Bridge, Long Island via the Throgs Neck and Whitestone Bridges, Upstate New York via Interstate 87 northbound and the Bronx River Parkway, Manhattan via Interstate 87 southbound to the Triborough Bridge, and New England via the New England Thruway (Interstate 95) and the Hutchinson River Parkway.

However, the expressway is known for its extreme traffic problems; on a typical day 145,000 vehicles travel on the six lanes of highway the road contains, and it is not uncommon for truckers to use the Cross-Westchester Expressway to the Major Deegan Expressway to get around this stretch of I-95. Proposals have been made to add a second deck to the road, although to no avail. (Source: NYC Roads)

[edit] Exit list

Location Mile[19] # Destinations Notes
Morris Heights 0.00 Alexander Hamilton Bridge over the Harlem River
0.07 1C I-87 (Major Deegan Expressway) / Amsterdam Avenue – Albany, Queens
0.65 2A Jerome Avenue
Tremont 1.28 2B US 1 north (Webster Avenue) East end of US 1 overlap; eastbound exit and westbound entrance
1.86 3 Third Avenue Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
West Farms 2.64 4A I-895 south (Sheridan Expressway) – Triboro Bridge Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
Soundview 3.00 4B Bronx River Parkway / Rosedale Avenue
3.70 5A White Plains Road, Westchester Avenue
Castle Hill
5B Castle Hill Avenue Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
Throgs Neck 5.05 6A I-678 south – Whitestone Bridge Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
5.05 I-278 west (Bruckner Expressway) – Triboro Bridge Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
5.05 I-95 north – New Haven East end of I-95 overlap; west end of I-295 overlap; eastbound exit and westbound entrance
11 Randall Avenue
6.5 I-295 south – Throgs Neck Bridge Cross-Bronx Expressway ends at the Throgs Neck Expressway

[edit] References

  1. ^ Google Maps driving directions, accessed November 2007
  2. ^ New York City Department of Transportation, Truck Routes, accessed November 2007: shows that the Cross Bronx Expressway Extension ends at the Throgs Neck Expressway, while the Throgs Neck Expressway continues to the Throgs Neck Bridge
  3. ^ New York Times, Call Traffic Study City Planning Aid, October 29, 1929, p. 32
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ H.M. Gousha Company, New York City area, 1941
  6. ^ New York Times, Pattern of Highways for the City as Proposed in Board's Master Plan, November 21, 1940, p. 39
  7. ^ New York City Planning Commission, Major Reports of the City Planning Commission (serial), OCLC 47079852
  8. ^ Joseph C. Ingraham, New York Times, 3 Highway Links Open Tomorrow, November 4, 1955, p. 32
  9. ^ Joseph C. Ingraham, New York Times, Around the Town: New York City's System of Bypasses Is Beginning to Take Shape, January 1, 1961, p. X17
  10. ^ New York Times, Expressway Growing: Cross-Bronx Artery Will Be Extended a Mile Today, April 23, 1956
  11. ^ New York Times, Cross-Bronx Route to Add Section, April 25, 1960, p. 23
  12. ^ New York Times, Cross Bronx Highway Link Ready, January 31, 1961, p. 13
  13. ^ New York Times, New Bridge Completes L.I.-to-Jersey Bypass, April 14, 1963, p. 528
  14. ^ Joseph C. Ingraham, New York Times, New York Bypass: Narrows Bridge Adds More New Ways To Avoid City's Traffic Jams, November 15, 1964, p. XX1
  15. ^ New York Times, Expressway Ramps Opening, November 19, 1964, p. 39
  16. ^ Frank J. Prial, New York Times, The Bruckner Interchange Open at Last, December 21, 1972, p. 77
  17. ^ New York Times, Metropolitan Briefs, December 31, 1972, p. 36
  18. ^ Rand McNally Road Atlas: United States, Canada and Mexico, 1964
  19. ^ Traffic Volume Report (PDF). New York State Department of Transportation (2007-07-16).

[edit] External links

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Expressways in New York City
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