The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) announced Tuesday that it would add an additional public hearing on Jan. 6 for the Cross Bronx Expressway Five Bridges Project.
This will be the fourth hearing where community members can offer feedback on a nearly $1 billion construction plan which many transit and environmental advocates are concerned goes beyond what’s needed to repair the five bridges.
The move takes a step toward what a coalition of community and environmental groups have been asking for: a more concerted effort at public engagement. They’ve been fighting for years to have more say over the project, and slowly the state has paired back plans that community members felt were the worst options.
NYSDOT Commissioner Marie Therese Dominguez said that the new hearing is an important opportunity for those in the community to work with the agency.
“I urge members of the community who have questions or concerns about this project to come to this meeting and discuss them with members of our team – we are listening,” Dominguez said. “By working together, we can achieve something special for the Bronx.”
But members of the group known as the Stop the Cross Bronx Expressway Expansion Coalition, said the state missed the mark by failing to extend the deadline to submit a public comment to 90 days, up from the 52 days which NYSDOT set to allow the public time to review the plan and add their thoughts.
The project, which will repair five bridges along a one mile stretch of the highway is under the microscope. After generations of pollution from the Cross Bronx Expressway have harmed the environment, air quality and public health, Bronx residents living near the highway want to make sure that any infrastructure projects also look at decreasing traffic and pollution through the area— something they say the current plan doesn’t adequately address.
The coalition also criticized the state for what it says is poor scheduling. The new hearing will be from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Jan. 6, Three Kings Day, a Christian celebration marking the end of the holiday season. The holiday is popular among Latino communities, due to its Spanish origins.
Director of Community Development at the POINT CDC, Dariella Rodriguez, who is part of the coalition, said that the timing threatens to leave out a large portion of the community that would be impacted by the project.
“We still need 90 days to review plans for the Cross Bronx,” Rodriguez said. “Scheduling a last-ditch meeting on Three Kings’ Day – and three days before the public comment deadline – just isn’t real engagement. Ask yourselves: what good are Spanish translation services at a hearing scheduled right when Latinx families are gathered at the dinner table?”
Whether a logistical hurdle or an unintentional oversight, the new hearing appears to repeat some of the same fumbles of the first three, which advocates and community members argued were poorly timed during the holiday season, making it more difficult for people to attend. It’s one reason why advocates have asked for additional time to review the plan, which is more than 5,500 pages long.
NYSDOT representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the timing of the new hearing.
The agency has remained firm on its public comment period deadline of Jan. 9, pushing back on the criticism by pointing out that a 52 day comment period is already an extension of the standard 30 days. Representatives of DOT also told the Bronx Times during the initial set of hearings that it encourages those that don’t have the time to read the entire design plan and environmental assessment to read the more abridged, executive summary, which is a more modest 35 pages.
Still, turnout was underwhelming for the first three hearings scheduled around the holidays, with advocates saying the poor numbers further demonstrated the need for more time and effort from the state.
The new public hearing is scheduled for Jan 6. at the Bronx River Art Center, 1087 E .Tremont Ave. from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Representatives and experts from NYSDOT and the Federal Highway Administration will answer questions about the proposal and residents and advocates will be given time to make or submit public comments.
Reach Sadie Brown at sbrown@schnepsmedia.com or (214) 994-6723. For more coverage, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram!
