Experts Worry about Cross Bronx Expressway

by Rob Palazzolo | 06/18/2014 | 5:43am

Experts Worry about Cross Bronx Expressway

Lack of federal funding could make repairs more difficult

The Cross Bronx Expressway is loud, dirty, and often filled to the brim with cars.

But as part of Interstate 95, it helps stitch together the whole region.  

Chris McBride is a transporation expert with AAA. He says this essential road needs help.  

“The surface itself is just in deplorable condition, with many potholes and dips and bumps,” explains McBride.

The Cross Bronx was originally planned and designed in 1945, when highway design standards were different. McBride says relics like short ramps and narrow shoulders make the road congested and dangerous.

McBride also says the rule keeping trucks off the lower level of the George Washington Bridge causes backups. He says truck drivers must get over to the left lane early, and this causes severe congestion.

But McBride says that a lack of funds makes fixing this problem unlikely. According to the federal Department of Transportation, the Highway Trust Fund will run out of money by September 30th unless Congress steps in.

Orlando Ortez owns a barbershop just off the Cross Bronx. He says the road is dangerous.

“They need to do something. Because there’s a lot of accidents every day—it’s not one, it’s about ten,” says Ortez.

A spokesman from the State Department of Transportation says the state has begun a repavement project that should conclude in the fall. But he also admits the lack of federal support has made it more difficult to maintain highways like the Cross-Bronx.

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