Cross Bronx Boondoggle Would Drag Buses Off Their Routes And Put Another Highway Ramp Next To Bronx River

New York State’s Cross Bronx expansion boondoggle requires rerouting a pair of buses and building a previously undisclosed highway exit ramp from the proposed “connector road” next to the Cross Bronx, according to state officials.

In its ultimately successful 2023 application for a $150-million federal Mega infrastructure grant, the state Department of Transportation told the federal government that its plan for a “multimodal connector road” next to the Cross Bronx Expressway included plans to reroute the Bx36 and Q44 bus routes onto a short piece of the 0.8-mile elevated road next to the highway.

The grant pitch to the federal government, obtained by Streetsblog through a FOIA request, answers one lingering question: what bus service would run on the road?

However, rerouting both buses would require cutting or moving multiple stops, and state DOT did not say whether it looked at the ridership numbers for the stops in question. In the case of the Bx36, the bus would need to make a left turn through a six-way intersection at Boston Road to get from West Farms Road back onto Tremont Avenue. Both the MTA and the National Association of City Transportation Officials identify left turns as factors that feed into bus delays.

Getting the buses on and off of the connector road would also require building a highway ramp from the elevated road down to West Farms Road. State DOT did not respond to a question of where the ramp, which was included in the grant application, would go and whether it would cut through a green space between West Farms Road and the Bronx River. Buses and general traffic would also need to merge off of the ramp and onto a single northbound lane on West Farms.

As a result, transit advocates are unimpressed with the idea of rejiggering bus routes and building an extra highway ramp, suggesting that it is merely a poorly thought out justification for what plenty of Bronx residents have called out as a highway expansion.

“Call this ‘Disconnecting Communities,'” said Riders Alliance spokesman Danny Pearlstein. “By taking the bus off local streets, the bypass would take riders away from neighborhood destinations. Bus lanes, busways and transit signal priority on city streets, not new highway segments, are the appropriate tools to speed up the Bx36 and Q44.”

A spokesperson for the state DOT suggested the agency had certainly not finalized any of the details in its grant application to the federal government.

“The preliminary concepts submitted in the grant application were merely the first step in a lengthy and ongoing process that includes robust community engagement,” said agency spokesperson Glenn Blain.

An MTA spokesperson also did not put any stock in the grant application.

“We have discussed this project with state DOT and conversations on what bus service might operate are ongoing,” said MTA spokesperson Joana Flores.

The connector road between Boston Road and Rosedale Avenue is not supposed to initially serve as a transit route. For the first four years of its existence, the road will serve as a bypass to allow the state to keep traffic moving on the Cross Bronx Expressway as it repairs five elevated portions of the Moses-era scar.

After the highway repair project is done, the highway-sized road will serve as another east-west road for drivers to use, though it will also feature a pedestrian and bike path.