Southern Bronx River Watershed Alliance
Sustainable South Bronx
Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice
New York City Environmental Justice Alliance
Pratt Institute Center for Community and Environmental Development
Tri-State Transportation Campaign
in collaboration with

Mothers on the Move

In support of the Southern Bronx River Watershed Alliance (SBRWA) and the communities of the South Bronx, we are submitting these comments as official testimony in the EIS scoping process for the Bruckner-Sherian Interchange/Hunts Point Peninsula Access Project.

According to the presentations made by the New York State Department of Transportation (Department) and the Draft Scoping Documents, the formal "alternatives" identified so far by the Department for the environmental impact study (EIS) consist of variations on the reconfigured interchange developed by the Department in the Extended Project Proposal.

Other measures still under consideration, but which are not at this point considered jointly as a formal alternative, include new ramps from the Bruckner Expressway to Leggett Avenue, demapping the Sheridan Expressway, developing a new waterfront truck route from the vicinity of the Tri-Borough Bridge to the Hunts Point Market, and using traffic calming measures to mitigate existing and potential traffic problems.

We urge the Department to combine the Leggett Avenue ramps, demapping of the Sheridan Expressway, and elevation of portions of the Bruckner Expressway into a single, formal "alternative" to be studied in the EIS in as much detail and depth as the interchange options carried forward from the Extended Project Proposal. This alternative, which we refer to as the "Community Plan" has been developed over the course of four years by community residents in collaboration with the members of the SBRWA. A summary description of the three major components of the community plan is as follows:

1. Providing access from the Bruckner Expressway to Hunts Point at Leggett Avenue
First, building new access ramps from the Bruckner Expressway into Hunts Point at Leggett Avenue will provide efficient truck access into the Hunts Point Market, the Fulton Fish Port and other industrial uses on the peninsula. This solution would cost far less than NYSDOT's, which is more important than ever given the tough budget decisions now facing New York City and the State. Also, access at Leggett Avenue would better serve drivers coming from and going to Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn than NYSDOT's proposal, which forces drivers to use the
desperately congested Cross Bronx Expressway. Most importantly, it would get drivers off street level and out of residential streets.

2. Decommissioning the Sheridan
Second, placing the new interchange at Leggett Avenue would allow the removal of the underutilized Sheridan Expressway, which would open up 28 acres of open space for community development projects including more public open space and housing. Even if 80% to 90% of the freed-up land is preserved as open space, there would be room for up to 1000 units of housing, at densities that would make good use of the area's transit and infrastructure.

3. Elevating portions of the Bruckner to improve safety
Finally, the third plan element would elevate the Bruckner Expressway between Hunts Point Avenue and Colgate Avenue. Removing the Sheridan will eliminate the hulking low-level viaduct and ramps that now blight this heavily used transit and shopping hub. Removing the express lanes from their present location at grade will create space for bike/pedestrian lanes, traffic calming, and greening at the surface level, and allow the reopening of cross streets east and west of the river, that are now blocked by the expressway.

We believe that the changes resulting from the implementation of this proposal in full will be overwhelmingly positive for all of the communities now affected by the highway network. However, to minimize any negative impacts from traffic that will be rerouted under the proposal, we advocate that, as the EIS moves forward, the Department incorporate measures to calm traffic on local streets, and to ensure that access to local residential and commercial areas is maintained. In particular, changes to the Cross Bronx Expressway being considered under the Bronx Arterial Needs Major Investment Study should be coordinated with this proposal.

The elements of the Community Plan fulfill the goals of the project as stated by the Department and also succeed in aiding economic development and a healthy environment. The ramps at Leggett would address the problem of access to the Hunts Point market. Demapping the Sheridan would eliminate congestion points and safety concerns on both the Bruckner and Cross-Bronx Expressways, while opening the door to strong community aspirations for more un-paved space and better access to the Bronx River waterfront. Elevating the Bruckner at select points will allow for safer, friendlier, bicycle and pedestrian access at intersections like Hunts Point Avenue.

The community's alternative plan is not unprecedented. Highway removals have worked both in the US and abroad in cities such as San Francisco, Portland and Paris. Milwaukee, Toronto and Akron are in the process of tearing down elevated highways as well. These projects have created major economic and environmental benefits, and any traffic issues have been successfully mitigated.

Thank you and we look forward to hearing your response to this request, and to the next steps in the Bruckner-Sheridan planning process.

Sincerely,

Majora J. Carter
Executive Director
Sustainable South Bronx
889 Hunts Point Ave, Bronx NY 10474

Alexie Torres-Fleming
Executive Director
Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice
1384 Stratford Avenue, Bronx, NY 10472

Joan Byron
Architectural Director
Pratt Institute Center for Community and Environmental Development
379 Dekalb Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11205

Hugh Hogan
Open Space Equity Campaign Director
New York City Environmental Justice Alliance
115 West 30th Street, New York, NY 10027

Jon Orcutt
Associate Director
Tri-State Transportation Campaign
240 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10027

James Mumm
Co-Director
Mothers on the Move
928 Intervale Avenue, Bronx, NY 10459

Jeff Jones
Communications Director
Environmental Advocates
353 Hamilton Street, Albany, NY 12203

Jeffrey Zupan
Senior Fellow, Transportation
Regional Plan Association
4 Irving Place, New York, NY 10003

Andrew J. Willner
Executive Director
New York/ New Jersey Baykeeper
Building 18, Sandy Hook, Highlands, NJ 07732

Georgianna Glose
Executive Director
Fort Green SNAP
375 Myrtle Ave., 2nd floor, Brooklyn, NY 11205

Michelle Garcia
Environmental Justice Outreach and Education Coordinator
Ironbound Community Corporation
51 McWhooter St, Newark, NJ 07105

Barbara Feldt
Director
Manhattan Botanical Garden
461 W. 44th Street, New York, NY 10036

Donna Gibbons
Executive Director
Manhattan Valley Development Corporation
73 W. 108th Street, New York, NY 10025

Dave Lutz
Executive Director
Neighborhood Open Space Coalition
356 7th Ave., 3rd floor, New York, NY 10001

Arthur Richardson
Downstate Coordinator
Neighborhood Preservation Coalition of New York State
507 Courst St., Brooklyn, NY 11234

John Kaehny
Executive Director
Transportation Alternatives
115 W. 30th St., Suite 1207, New York, NY 10001

Jim Tripp
General Counsel
Environmental Defense
257 Park Avenue South, New York, NY 10010

Fred Kent
President
Project for Public Spaces
153 Waverly Place, 4th floor, New York, NY 10014

John Culpepper
Executive Director
Lower Washington Heights Neighborhood Association
501 W. 156th Street, New York, NY 10032

Joan Levine
Executive Director
Morningside Heights/ W. Harlem Sanitation Coalition
100 LaSalle Street, #19F, New York, NY 10027

Sam Anderson
NY Metro Chapter, Black Radical Congress
122 West 27th Street, 10th Floor
New York, NY 10001

Moises Perez
Alianza Dominica
2410 Amsterdam Avenue, 4th Fl
New York, NY 10033

Yolanda Garcia
Executive Director
Nos Quedamos/ We Stay
524369 Stadium Station, Bronx, NY 10452

Barbara Olshansky
Center for Constitutional Rights
666 Broadway, 7th floor
New York, NY 10012

Barbara Eber-Schmid
Executive Director
Trees New York
51 Chambers St. 1312A, New York, NY 10007

Elena Conte
Coordinator
Greening for Breathing
726 Coster, Bronx, NY 10474

Renee Fernandez
Housing Specialist
163rd Street Improvement Council
1180 Reverend James A. Polite Ave., Bronx, NY 10459

Jan Cohen-Cruz
Associate Professor, Drama Department
New York University, Community Connections Program
721 Broadway, New York, NY 10003

Sharon Soons
Deputy Director
Brooklyn Bridge Park Coalition
334 Furman St., Brooklyn, NY 11201

Madeleine Polayes
President
Coalition for a Livable West Side
P.O. Box 230078, New York, NY 10023

Larry Yates
Organizer/ Trainer
Center for Health Environment and Justice
Falls Church, VA 22040