Need To Kill Cross Bronx Widening Plan Is Obvious Amid Slight Pollution Uptick
"We don't want congestion pricing to end, we want to make sure that it doesn't hurt our community. We want congestion relief here as well," said one Bronx advocate.
StreetsBlog NYC
by Dave Colon
Gov. Hochul has delayed her decision on whether to widen the footprint of the Cross Bronx Expressway for the second time, to next month — as advocates raise the alarm about the potential harm of dumping more car pollution on the Bronx after slight increases in traffic and pollution in the borough since the launch of congestion pricing.
Hochul now plans to decide whether to widen the Cross Bronx Expressway’s shoulder lanes by May 7, state officials informed the federal government this week — marking the second time she’s pushed her decision.
The delay comes days after Bronx advocates released new air quality readings from monitors in and around Port Morris and Mott Haven, two neighborhoods surrounded by highways and industrial zoning. Of the 19 monitors, 17 showed upticks in air pollutants in the first year of congestion pricing tolls in Manhattan, according to researchers at Columbia University who work with the local advocacy group South Bronx Unite.
