New York State Department of Transportation City Regional Director Erik Koester's full statement:
"Generations ago, the Bronx was ignored, and neighborhoods were forever changed by Robert Moses and the freeway construction he oversaw.
In recent years, the State Department of Transportation has worked to right these past wrongs, working closely with neighborhoods that historically have been overlooked to successfully deliver generational projects like transforming the Sheridan Expressway into a boulevard and completing the $1.7 billion Hunts Point Access Improvement Project, taking 13,000 trucks off the local street network and opening new recreational opportunities at Starlight and Concrete Parks for residents of the South Bronx.
To deliver these transformational projects, the State Department of Transportation listened to local residents and constructed projects that made a positive difference in their lives. The Department is equally committed to delivering another project for borough residents which will lay the groundwork for even more ambitious improvements in the future.
For over two years, we’ve been in constant dialogue with Bronx communities regarding a project to enhance safety and replace or rehabilitate five aging bridges along the Cross Bronx Expressway.
Again, we listened, and based on community feedback, the Department significantly scaled back the project last year, eliminating elements that the community did not agree with while adding new elements at their request. Despite our best good faith efforts to bring this safety project forward, we have been unable to come to an agreement on how to successfully advance this project.
As a result, the State Department of Transportation will not be releasing the final Environmental Assessment on the Cross Bronx Expressway Five Bridges Project and will suspend the project. Ensuring the long-term safety and resilience of this highway remains critical, and we will continue to monitor the bridges contained in this project, making repairs if required to preserve safety on this critical corridor."
Siddhartha Sánchez, Executive Director of the Bronx River Alliance, issued the following statement:
"Last fall, NYSDOT scrapped some of the worst proposals on the table, thanks to the tireless advocacy of our Bronx communities. However, DOT's remaining plans included a 50ft expansion that would've brought the Cross Bronx Expressway even closer to the 3,000 families at Bronx River Houses, and threatened more than 64,000 local residents with toxic pollution and sickness in the decades to come.
We made clear our desire for a fair compromise which would include commitments from the state to mitigate the inevitable impact of expanding the highway. We have always said that we understand that the bridges need to be repaired. The question is how to reduce the harm to the local environment and people who live here.
Our priorities have not changed. We are still willing to work with officials toward an equitable repair plan that protects the health and safety of all Bronxites. We encourage the State to suspend the project in order to conduct an EIS that studies community alternatives for the project that keep the expressway the same size and move it away from residential developments.
The news today, that the state is instead choosing to blame the Bronx for its own unwillingness to meet our basic need for a healthy future feels like a bad re-run of the history that got us here in the first place. It's hard to believe that this is the message Governor Hochul wants to send in 2026. We continue to look forward to implementing the Reimagine the Cross Bronx vision through the Planning and Environmental Linkages through deep engagement with the community. As the people who live, work, and raise families along this corridor, it's up to the Governor to show up with genuine respect for impacted communities as decision-making partners."
